Warframe: Control
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: Control is a matter of perspective. Some demand it. Some seek it. Some refuse it. Then there are a few, very few, who embody it. This is a fanfiction, I own none of the rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**Machines**

Indigo J-05 was a happy Corpus cog.

She hadn't always been that way. That wasn't a memory, more a feeling. She didn't remember what had happened or why. But she also did not question. Well, not _that_.

She had lots of questions and now? She finally had a line on a few of the answers. There was just one small problem...

"No." The voice that accompanied the denial was calm and controlled and Indigo J-05 fought to remain calm herself as the holographic being stared at her, face impassive. The Executive wasn't happy, but apparently it wasn't her that had caused it.

"I know there are problems, sir." Indigo J-05 said respectfully. "But if we can get the information, we might answer a number of questions."

"You are asking us to mount an expedition into Grineer territory to ask questions." The Executive said with a shake of his head. "Every probe that has been sent into that area has failed. So you want to send difficult to replace personnel instead. That is not profitable."

"No sir, that is not what I am saying, sir." Indigo J-05 said quickly, too quickly and the Executive's eyes narrowed.

"Then what _are_ you saying, Educator?" The other demanded.

"I have found references to a number of artifacts that may be in that area." Indigo J-05 forced herself to be calm. "I am not asking for a dig, that would be suicide. I am asking for a team to check the area out, no more."

"The Grineer have been far more active recently all across the system. No one is sure why." The Executive said firmly. "I understand your devotion to history and I applaud it." Indigo J-05 kept her face straight at that. Like hell he did. "But you are asking for a ship, personnel and proxies."

"Yes sir." The female Corpus said softly.

"You have no proof, just bits of text in ancient languages." The other shook his head again. "Get more proof and I will consider it further."

The screen went dark and Indigo J-05 stared at it and the ruins of her dream to add mountains of profit to the company. She was loyal to the Corpus and this... She shook her head. The Executive was simply doing his job. The Company frowned on gambles and this was long shot at best. It wasn't personal and she knew that. But she felt a deep and sudden pain deep within her. She wanted to _know_.

"I told you he would say 'no'." A familiar voice snapped her out of her reverie and Indigo J-05 turned to glare at her co-worker. "Don't look at me like that."

"Marian R-23..." Indigo J-05 gave herself a shake. "You know what this says." She tapped a console and a series of holographic pages popped up in midair.

"I know what you _think_ it says." The younger Educator replied. "But he is right. You don't have any proof." Indigo J-05 snarled halfheartedly at that and the other shook her head. "Come on. Break is over. We have to get back to work."

"I know." Indigo J-05 banished the pages with a sigh and followed her co-worker out of the room. She checked her tools automatically and nodded as she sat at her desk, Marion R-23 taking the other one. She activated her systems and smiled as her normal routine popped up. It wasn't a fun job. It wasn't a glamorous job. It was a very necessary one.

On her screen, small images showed two hundred Corpus employees as they lay in their beds asleep. The somatic units built into their bunks ensured a good off shift rest for all workers. Her eyes scanned the readouts , flicking with trained speed over each and every... She paused and enlarged one of the images.

"Anomaly detected." Indigo J-05 said calmly as Marian R-23 pulled up the same image. The brainwaves of the sleeping Crewman were decidedly out of the norm. "Monitor."

"Acknowledged." Marian R-23 replied and went back to scanning the images. She could keep the others supervised while Indigo J-05 focused on the one that was different.

A quick flip sent an Osprey to hover beside the Crewman whose brainwaves showed variations outside the norm. Another button warned the proctor for the area that something was amiss. There was always one flesh and blood guard for each dormitory. Despite the best efforts of Corpus security, humans were still human. Anything electronic could be subverted. There would always be those who sought to do things the easy way, the quick way. That was not the Company way. Then there were those who sought to profit from the Company. _They_ were a cancer that had to be cut out quickly. But this one... He was...

"Oh." Indigo J-05 bit back a laugh as she realized what was happening. He wasn't being disloyal. He was dreaming what men usually did when they had time to spare. Dreaming with his _other_ brain. "Anomalous feelings but not disloyal. Physical. Hmmm..." She mused. "Should I counter?" She queried her co-worker.

"If you don't, he will make a mess all over himself and his bunk." Marian R-23 replied instantly. "The proctor will not be amused."

"Point." Indigo J-05 frowned and then keyed her com. "Proctor James H-18, subject in bed 134 is not disloyal. He is having an erotic dream. Countering now. We will suggest scheduling the subject some time in a rec facility." An acknowledgement came from the proctor but Indigo J-05 was busy.

Human brains were both chemical and electrical based. The physical structure of the most important organ in the human body had been mapped thoroughly by Corpus techs for centuries, but the sheer number of neurological variations often defied the odds. Even with all of the processes that guaranteed obedience and loyalty in Corpus workers, there were a number of things that could go wrong. That was where Indigo J-05 and others like her came in. One part of her saw the Osprey land at the head of the subject's bed and extend probes to touch the bare skull. Now there was no chance he could wake completely or make a mess, since she could take control of every facet of his body with a simple button push. The rest of her was working feverishly. She keyed her mike, knowing that her words would not be audible to anyone but the subject and to him? They would be subconscious. He was not awake and would not wake, but he could reply, if quietly and slowly.

"Now is not the time, worker Hors B-87." Indigo was good at her job. Corpus Educators were not teachers, per say. Training for Corpus was done via indoctrination and that was a different skill set. She was not technically a mental tech either. No, her job was to monitor and nudge errant workers into better paths. "You serve the Company and the Company serves you."

"I live to serve, I serve to live." The man's words would have been inaudible if not for the neurological connections.

"Are you lonely?" Indigo J-05 asked, her tone still calm. A quick check showed the man hadn't been to the rec center recently. Corpus rec centers were geared to exercise any and every part of a worker's body. Including genitalia. Every worker was scheduled for such, but he had missed the last two times due to overtime work called for by the Executives. He was hardly the only one in such a situation. "We can help. The Company protects."

"I serve the Company." The man replied but his tone was wistful.

"It has been rough for a bit." Indigo J-05 let hint of sadness enter her tone now. "We will take care of you. But for now? I need you to do some math for me." If there was anything more guaranteed to squash an incipient libido in the bud than certain math problems, Indigo J-05 had no idea what it might be.

"Yes, Educator." The man replied. He sighed and dropped into a deeper sleep as Indigo J-05 tapped controls. The hind brain was not good at anything that required conscious thought, but basic manipulation of it would allow the man to get a full rest period while the rest of his subconscious focused on the basic math problems that Indigo J-05 was feeding into the Osprey now. Problems that would lead his mind to develop strategies that would aid him in his work without his conscious mind realizing it. She ran the programs that the mind techs gave her, she couldn't write them. But she did enjoy it when her pupils learned their lessons well.

"And one more problem solved." Indigo J-05 minimized the screen as the man settled back into sleep, his brainwaves shifting to allowable patterns. She keyed the com again. "Proctor James H-18? Situation resolved. Osprey will continue to monitor for thirty minutes. Recommend Hors B-87 be scheduled time in a rec facility as soon as possible."

"Noted." The Proctor replied and the com clicked off.

"When was the last time you went to one?" Marian R-23 asked quietly as she scanned her readouts.

"A week." Indigo J-05 replied. "And yes, I did the whole series." She said quickly. After so long working as a team with Marian R-23, she knew how her colleague thought and wanted to head off the questions she knew were coming. But some wouldn't be denied.

"You are not seeing Harold G-43 anymore?" The other asked, concerned.

"He was offered another post last week with higher pay." Indigo J-05 managed to keep her voice level with effort. A tap of a control and soothing music sounded in her ears, calming her. "He left a note."

"Oh." The stunned voice of the other had Indigo J-5 relaxing. "But you are coping."

"Fixating is more like." Indigo J-05 said with a frown, thinking about her own feelings. Human emotions made a mess of things at the best of time, but when someone that you had planned to spend your life, -indeed had planned to have a _child_ with!- with just up and left with little word? She was angry and would be. "I am angry, but he saw profit."

"Profit numbs the feeling." Marian R-23 quoted instantly. "But this? _Earth?_ Indigo J-05, are you looking to die?"

"No." Indigo J-05 replied without heat. "I was angry. I am angry. But this? I found the text some time ago and have been working to decipher it in my reading downtime. One thing I am sure of? It is not an Orokin thing."

"How can it not be Orokin if it pertains to Earth?" Marian R-23 sounded reasonable but she had been partnered with Indigo J-05 for a long time. She knew her partner very well and knew exactly how angry Indigo J-05 was at this betrayal.

"Earth wasn't always Orokin." Indigo J-05 replied. "We knew that before the rise of the Orokin, there were others living there." As she spoke, her gaze swept her screens, but nothing out of the ordinary showed. The Osprey was continuing to distract Hors B-87 and nothing else seemed amiss. One of the primary requisites for an Educator was the ability to multi-task. Some of that could be trained, but when the recruit had the ability already? It made things much easier.

"Yes." Marian R-23 was more than a bit dubious. "That was a long time ago and we lost so much in the Collapse."

Both women bowed their heads in memory. The Corpus was descended from survivors of the catastrophe that had befallen the mighty empire that had spanned and remade the solar system. So many lives lost, so much technology and knowledge lost.

"Yes we did." Indigo J-05 shook her head. "Thing is, I don't know one word that I found. None of the databases I have been able to access have it."

"Not in any of our databases?" Marian R-23 asked, impressed. "That might be worth something to someone."

"I know, but I have to be careful asking." The senior Educator had seen far too many of her peers step over the line with information, either needing more than they thought or needing to know less. "I doubt it is anything important, but you never really know."

"You reported the find, yes?" Marian R-23 asked, worried and relaxed as coworker nodded. "Good."

"As soon as I realized it was pre-Orokin text, I reported it." Indigo J-05 reassured her some more. "I was told it would take some time to get back to me." Marian R-23 looked at her and Indigo J-05 made a face. "Weeks."

"These things do take time to go up and down the chain." Marian R-23 agreed, then stiffened as an alert sounded close at hand. She slapped her Comba helmet closed and Indigo J-05 was a less than a millisecond later. "Set. Status?"

"All dormitories are locked down." Indigo J-05 reported as she checked her Lecta. Unless the enemy force was far stronger than any that could have made it this far without setting off any perimeter alarms, the non-combatant workers were safer in there. She didn't need to see to know that Marian R-23 was checking her Detron at the same time. "No reports of what has set off the alarms."

The ship they were on was huge and well defended, but no one assumed it was impregnable. Grineer raiding parties, Infested outbreaks and even Tenno attacks had happened on occasion. The solar system was not a safe place to be a human sometimes. But the Corpus had learned its lessons well. They couldn't match the Grineer for numbers, the Infested for adaptability or the Tenno for power, but they adapted to each and every new onslaught with high technology. There had been whispers recently of another threat, either a new one or an ancient one depending on which whispers you believed. If the half hysterical rumors were true and there _were_ Sentients now loose in the system... Those monsters had given the Orokin with all of their incredible advances fits. The Corpus had built upon the ruins of that fallen empire so they wouldn't have much chance. But such thoughts were not to be aired. Ever.

"Proxies are responding to the alarm location." Marian R-23 replied from her post near the door. "Nothing on the cameras."

She sounded hopeful, but Indigo J-05 just shook her head. Most enemies would know to either avoid or destroy Corpus security cameras. As soon as the automated systems detected an enemy they could identify,. They activated whatever defenses were in the area as well as sounding a discreet alert to all nearby security forces. Infested didn't care one way or another, but the rest? Grineer would swarm the area and destroy anything and everything that shot at them, swamping the area with clone bodies and firepower until the situation was resolved. Tenno were more problematic, they could and would...

"What was that?" Marian R-23 said softly as she looked around. Both women held their weapons ready but nothing presented itself. The door to the control room was sealed. All of the ducts surrounding the area were sealed as well. "I heard something."

"I didn't." Indigo J-05 said with a frown that was wasted with her helmet closed.

Both women spun as the world in their control room turned bright. Both goggled at the 'sealed' duct nearby as it glowed with energy and then slowly vanished. The form that entered the room wasn't a Corpus. It wasn't a Grineer. It wasn't an infested. It wasn't even a Tenno! It was...

"Sentient!" Indigo J-05 screamed but her call met only a haze of static as another large spindly form entered the room behind the first. Against one, the two women had very little chance. Against _two_? Neither of the floating glowing things attacked, instead they moved toward the control consoles!

Marian R-23 shook off her horror first and opened fire. Her Detron spat its glowing payload of death. Her shot was true and had no effect whatsoever! The Sentient ignored the impact and her. Indigo J-05 lashed out with her whip and was pleased to see it do something to the alien biometal. Just a scratch, but she could hurt it. The monstrous alien form paused in whatever it was doing. She could almost feel its regard. Almost.

 _ **That one.**_

The words were not out loud. Indigo J-05 shouldn't have been able to hear them, but she could. The sheer malevolence in those words put any Corpus she had ever heard to shame for sheer lack of emotion. This was a machine, but... not. Marian R-23 sank to her knees, keening, as power flared over both of them and their wondrous technology all stopped working. Their weapons, their armor, their implants. Everything just shut down.

Through sheer force of will, Indigo J-05 kept her feet. She hefted the inert mass of her whip like a club and waited. Neither of the alien machines moved and she snarled at them through her dead helmet. Then her world went decidedly weird. Golden energy flared around her and both machine seemed to shrink back from it. Her helmet came back to life! On her HUD was shown a word.

'Run!'

There was nothing Indigo J-05 wanted to more than obey that command. But she had two problems. One, Marian R-23 was down and still keening. Two? Indigo J-05 had nowhere to _go_. The door was dead and the two Sentients were between her and the duct. Both were closing with her, their odd slender appendages glowing with evil energies as they stretched out to touch her. If they had wanted her and Marian R-23 dead, she would be, so... what?

'Run _now!_ '

" _Where_ , Profit take it?" Indigo J-05 snapped out loud even as she backpedaled, her whip up and knocking the closest Sentient limb away. But when she hit it, lethargy swam through her arm and she screamed as her body slowly folded into a kneeling position despite her screams of rage and pain.

'Close your eyes.'

The golden text didn't make any sense. She couldn't... Wait. She _could_ close her eyes. She did and hoped that death would take her before the horror reaching for her did.

She never felt the blow that knocked her unconscious.

From _behind!_


	2. Chapter 2

**The 'new' Old War**

Both Sentients recoiled away from their prey as the human slumped to the floor and the other fell over from where she had been kneeling. Both lay still. The human shaped form that strode to stand between the fallen humans and the alien monsters wasn't one. The golden hoops that crowned his helmet were simply the most ostentatious of the decorations on the warframe as the Tenno stood between the Sentients and their prey. The Boar Prime shotgun, Aklex pistols and Dual Kamas Prime were the _least_ of his weapons against such foes.

The Frost Prime warframe that housed Olim, Grandmaster of the Cyberlancers, stayed where it was, between the ancient enemy and their prey. He was used to fighting this enemy and they knew it. It was an open question if the Sentients could feel fear. If so? They were probably losing control of whatever passed for bodily functions for their kind when unexpectedly faced by such sheer power. Olim's duty was to protect his kin against such enemies and he had learned his lessons well.

 _Get them out of here._ Olim commanded as he slowly drew his twin Kama. Ranged weapons might work or they might not, but they couldn't defend him against many of the Sentient weapons. He usually opened his fights with melee weapons, letting his kin strike from range with other weapons.

 _We cannot leave you!_ Sister Jill. Of course. The Tenno who had been paired with Olim for this mission were not in his clan. None of his clan would have argued. Sister Jill seemed to argue just to do it. She wasn't bad or even overly pragmatic, she was simply contrary.

 _The Sentients want these two humans alive. Whatever for cannot be good. Get them out of here!_ Olim snapped as he flexed his fingers and his Dual Kamas Prime snapped open, glowing with a hint of his own inner power. Both Sentients seemed to recoil, just a little, but he knew it was an illusion. They knew what he was, what he could do, just as _he_ knew _their_ own strengths and weaknesses. He felt energy flare behind him and he smiled under his helmet, knowing that both of the humans would be safe. Well... saf _er_.

The Battlyst on the left chose to attack first. The ball of plasma it launched at him should have exploded on contact, but the golden code that connected to it first wasn't enough to set it off. A minute flip of his tangible computer code altered the blob's trajectory and sent the ball of plasma to the wall where it obliterated an inoffensive computer monitor. But then, both Sentients retreated!

 _What the-?_ The chorus came from all three of the others as Olim watched the Sentients fall back into the duct they had burned their way into this control room through.

 _They are gathering more fighters._ Olim said flatly. _They cannot best me with two._ There was no hubris in his tone, simple fact. _Go! Whatever reason the Lotus wanted this humans for, the Sentients want them too. We cannot allow that._

 _Not without you._ Jill retorted.

 _Go!_ Olim roared in his mind and the he sensed two of the others retreating. The Ivara warframe that Jill wore shrouded her from sight and she hadn't moved. _Jill, go!_ He pleaded.

 _I have my orders from your clan leader in person._ Jill replied. _'Do not leave him alone' is not open to interpretation._

 _She what?_ Olim demanded and then groaned half heartedly. _Geez, bunch of nagging nannies, the lot of them._

It had taken him years to get the clan to agree to let him go out without a dedicated bodyguard. So now? They had _other_ Tenno acting the part? Oh, he would have _words_ with his clan leader Tiana.

 _You are needed, Cyberlancer._ Jill waited until Olim started to move and then he felt an impact as she shrouded him in invisibility again. Getting into the Corpus ship hadn't been hard at all. _If you fall, who can replace you?_

 _-She has got you there-_ The quiet voice of Olim's AI sister wasn't audible to other Tenno normally and Olim was very grateful of that. Olim growled at Riana and Jill in equal measure but did not reply to either otherwise.

Ivara warframes couldn't move very fast in Prowl mode even with augmentations, but Olim wasn't the fastest of Tenno either. Frost Prime warframes were incredibly durable, but they were, in the end not invulnerable.

Then the lights on the ship flickered.

 _Oh, not_ **now** _._ Olim snapped silently. _Of all the_ **lousy** _..._

 _New Loka!_ Kristopher called from ahead. He and the other had obeyed Olim's command to flee. _On me!_

 _Stupid fanatics!_ Olim growled and picked up his pace even as Jill shot him with another arrow to keep him invisible. _Kristopher, Helga! Get out of here! Just run for it! Get to the ships!_

 _Sentients!_ Helga called and then there was a scream of agony from her. A scream that went suddenly and horribly silent.

 _No!_ Olim shouted and poured on the speed. Behind him, he could sense the Ivara dropping her invisibility to travel as fast as she could, a massive risk for the much more lightly armored warframe.

He came into an open area and did not even slow as his kama tore through an enslaved Infested Ancient that was battling Kristopher's Excalibur warframe. An Avalanche slowed every enemy in the area. Then he darted past the combat and into another room, this one smaller. He came to a sudden, horrified halt at what he saw.

The Sentients had laid their trap well. Almost a dozen Sentients of various kinds were arrayed around the room. Battlysts, Conculysts, Oculysts, nine of them. All had paused in whatever they were doing as he entered. But that paled beside the torn Nyx warframe that lay on the floor, her Dex Furis pistols still smoking from where she had fired them. Sister Helga had fought, of course. That was what Tenno _did_. What they were. But even the best of Tenno could be outfought, given numbers and surprise. Her Nyx warframe was very good at controlling crowds of normal enemies. Against these? She hadn't had a chance even to activate her abilities.

 _No._ Riana and Olim both exclaimed as they saw the pooling fluids and the telltale signs of energy being pulled from the destroyed frame into one of the hovering Sentient Oculysts. They were _taking_ Helga's energy! Either her own or the human she had been holding safe! When Olim spoke again, it was aloud for the first time even as he cast Snow Globe, slowing enemies within the radius..

"You will _not_ take her. _Either_ of them!" Olim threw out his hands and golden energy soared from them to slam into each and every Sentient. They all recoiled.

-Olim!- Riana warned as his energy levels dropped like a rock. -Too many!-

 _I don't care._ Olim snapped right back and sheathed his kama. The Sentient all recoiled anew as a huge golden mace appeared in his hands, one composed solely of golden computer code. He as proud of that skill, summoning such a powerful virtual weapon into the real world was not a trivial matter. Useless against organic foes, but against _machines_? Oh dear. At the sight of the weapon, two of the Sentients at the edge of the globe just vanished, fleeing. Fear or self preservation or reporting the new real world occurrence? Didn't matter here and now. _They cannot adapt to this!_

Riana's returned mutter was _decidedly_ rude.

 _Orders, Cyberlancer?_ Kristopher asked from where he moved to flank Olim on the left. Jill was an invisible presence on his other side. There was no sound behind him, but he didn't dare look to see if any enemies remained. Not with such a threat in front of him.

 _That Oculyst took part of Helga's energy._ Olim said flatly. A halo of shimmering golden code surrounded the eye of the Sentient as it tried to flee, but suddenly found itself a fly caught in an amber web. _That one is mine. The others? Destroy them._

 _Leave a few for us._ Jill said snidely and the other Tenno laughed even as the first Sentient threw energy at them and the fight was on.

Six Sentients. Three Tenno. Fairly even odds discounting the fact that every time Olim connected to a Sentient with his mace, that fighter simply dropped inert to the floor, drained of all motive force. If the other two had been Olim's clanmates, it wouldn't have been a long fight, simply a slaughter despite the Sentients' ability to adapt to attacks. Olim's clan kept many secrets, some of which allowed them to field _far_ better equipment than most Tenno clans could boast. Then more Sentients appeared, followed by more.

Kristopher and Jill were Tenno, trained and honed in the fires of the Old War. They were well trained, well disciplined, well motivated and willing to give the task their all but their gear was not Olim's equal. Neither of them had prime equipment and Kristopher had only woken from his long cryosleep a few weeks before. He wasn't using Mk-1 equipment anymore, thank goodness, but his gear wasn't that much better. Jill stayed invisible, her arrows singing from nowhere to slam into Sentient arms, depriving them of some of their weapons until they could regenerate. Olim stood over the fallen Nyx and his rage was a tangible thing. No Sentient that closed with him lasted more than a few moments so they stopped trying. Instead, they circled, trying to draw his compatriots away from his support. The other Tenno declined to do that, picking off one, two of the enemy as Olim slammed Sentient after Sentient into nothingness. The Oculyst he had marked was only the first to feel his wrath.

 _Help is inbound!_ The Lotus called into their minds as the trio fought for themselves and their fallen sister. _Retreat if you must. Helga will understand, Olim._

 _I am not leaving her to die at their hands!_ Olim snapped back.

 _Olim, she is already dead!_ The Lotus begged. _They took half of her energy! We cannot recover that. It is gone, corrupted. Please, Olim. Fall back._

Olim could feel the rage and pain from the others as he took a step back and then another. He ended another Sentient, but he had never told anyone how he managed such a feat. Riana was cursing him loudly in his mind as each blow took a toll of his own personal vitality. But then another voice entered his head. One he knew very well indeed. One of the Zarimon children he had been talking to and learning from as the other had learned from him. New energy sang through him from the channeled way of Zenurik that Owl followed. His Snow Globe expanded with the Zarimon Tenno's energy and the Avalanche he cast froze the Sentients for just a moment. It wouldn't last.

 _Cyberlancer Olim, enough._ Owl's mind was sad, but firm. _Pick up Helga's body and run. Wait... what?_

 _Everything_ stopped as the fallen Nyx rose to her feet unsteadily.

"What the _hell_?" The voice from the Nyx _wasn't_ Helga. It was the _human_ Olim had heard before. One of the ones the Sentients were after. How? Why? He shook his head. Not important now. The form stared around the room from the Sentients to the Tenno and stepped away from them all, towards one wall. She held up hands as if to ward and froze, staring at her armored hands until Olim took a step forward, then she screamed. "No! Stay away!"

 _This is neither the time nor the place!_ Owl warned. _Ma'am, you are in grave danger! The Tenno are trying to help! Can you run?_

Instead of answering, the Nyx took to her heels. The _wrong_ way! Back the way they had _come_. Something sang from the invisible Ivara and the Nyx froze in place, snared by bonds of energy.

 _That... shouldn't have worked..._ Jill's tone was confused. _Slowed her, yes. Knocked her out? No._

 _They are coming._ Kristopher warned and Olim spun back to see the mass of Sentients pushing through his Snow Globe.

 _So are_ **we** _!_

A roar heralded the arrival of reinforcements. Four _more_ Tenno jumped into the fray, and _these_ Olim knew. Nyx Prime, Valkyr Prime, Vauban Prime, Rhino Prime. Tiana, Cathi Gata, Ric and Karl tore through the wounded ranks of Sentient fighters like a hot knife through butter.

 _Olim! Go!_ _We have this!_ The command from his clan leader had Olim bending down to heft the frozen Nyx warframe and start off even as his clan battled the Tennos' second most hated enemies after the one who had started all of this mess way back before Orokin had been formed.

He didn't argue with Tiana. It never worked. She made up her mind and come hell or high water, storm or supernova, anyone else would move aside before that Tenno clan leader would. She was a good leader. She would listen to arguments, find the truth wherever she could and make her decisions with care and deliberation. But once she had _made_ that decision? Get _out_ of her way.

As he ran, Jill and Kristopher paced him. All Tenno knew grief. Death was part of who and what they were and none of the Tenno Olim knew were arrogant enough to assume that it would pass them by forever. But to lose a sister _this_ way? He jerked as the form in his hand started moving. He wove a set of code to make sure the Nyx's abilities remained dormant and heaved a silent sigh as it worked. Never a certainty when dealing with warframes.

 _She is waking._ He warned as he ran. _Ma'am? Please, calm down. We will not harm you._ The form continued to jerk and Olim sighed. _Owl, she cannot hear me._

 _Right._ The insubstantial form of the Tenno who aided any of Olim's kin who asked for it was calm and assured now. _Ma'am. You are in no danger now. The Sentients have been beaten back._

"Let me go!" The voice of the human from the Nyx warframe was frantic now. "Profit save me! You monsters! What have you done to me?"

 _We do not know what happened or why, but a sister of ours just paid with her life for trying to save yours._ Owl was still calm, but his tone held a hint of rebuke. _You and your compatriot are alive and free. I do not know what the Sentients wanted with you, but whatever it is cannot be good._

"I serve the company!" The woman said flatly. "Release me."

 _Until we know what happened and why, we cannot release you._ Owl said reasonably. _You are in grave danger. The Sentient wanted you. Do you have any idea why?_ His tone was soothing, calming and the jerks from the warframe Olim was carrying subsided.

"No." The woman said weakly. "I don't. I am just an Educator."

 _Well, for now, you are in no condition to fight or flee._ Owl said reasonably. _We will aid you and no one will do anything to you without your permission as long as you do not attempt to cause harm to any who ward you._

"I don't like this." The woman said weakly, but she did stop her struggles.

 _Neither do we._ Owl assured her dryly. _But until we can figure out why they targeted you specifically, then you and your coworker are in grave danger. Not of death._

"If they wanted me dead, I would be." The woman agreed softly. "But... what is this? My hands..." Her head angled a little to stare at her hands where they lay limp. "These are not my hands. This is not tight!"

 _No, it is not._ _I do not know what happened._ Owl replied. _And frankly? That worries me._

The trio of Tenno ran to their designated extraction zone and Olim strode to his Liset's airlock and then paused. The rotating airlock assembly was meant for one warframe. Helga's ship was attached to the hull of the Corpus ship, true., but Helga was gone and this human was somehow partially in control of her warframe. He shook his head and activated a special override. The other two stared as his airlock opened wider, allowing him to carry the Nyx into his ship.

 _Get them to HQ._ The Lotus said quietly into Olim's mind. _We need to find out what happened, see if it can be reversed_. Quiet as she was, the human heard her.

"No!" The humans lashed out with hands and feet as Olim carried her into the cramped spacecraft. The feeble blows had no effect whatsoever on the Frost Prime.

"Calm down." Olim said sternly as he laid the possessed Nyx warframe on the floor of the Liset. "Riana, get us out of here." He shook his head as the Nyx warframe jerked in the bonds of code he had placed on it. The Liset's engines rumbled as it flew away from the Corpus ship. "Don't do that, Ma'am. You will hurt yourself."

"So instead, _you_ hurt me?" The woman demanded. "Sentient or Tenno, what is the-" She broke off with a gasp as Olim bent down to kneel beside her, turning her helmet so she saw him clearly.

"The difference is..." Olim said calmly. "We Tenno are sworn to defend humanity. The Sentients want to destroy humanity. We will not harm you unless you bring it upon yourself. We cannot set you back where you were and by now? The company will have written you off."

"You betrayed the Orokin!" The woman snapped. "Destroyed the Empire!"

"From one point of view, yes." Olim replied evenly. "Tenno did. They had little choice however."

"You are not human!" The woman snapped, apparently even more irate at his lack of concern.

"No." Olim agreed. "I am not. The question is..."

"Are _you_."


	3. Chapter 3

**Cold**

Indigo J-05 was freezing.

She didn't know where she was. The room wasn't anywhere she knew. The walls were golden and white, much like Orokin structures, come to think of it. But it was far too new looking and clean to be Orokin. It was also bare and had no discernible exit. Ordinarily., that would not have been a problem. If she had been exploring an Orokin vault or some such, she would have called for help and the rescue team would have gotten her out, even if they had to blow a hole in a wall to do so. But here?

She had no gear. She had no weapon. She also had no idea at all where she was or how she had arrived here. The last thing she remembered was the odd Tenno who had _spoken_ to her doing something and golden energy sweeping in to cover her. At least here her arms were not covered in that odd armor. Had that been a warframe? Had _she_ been in a warframe? That didn't make any sense. Humans couldn't use warframes and she was human. Nothing about this whole situation was making any sense.

She had woken here, wherever here was, and found herself alone. She wasn't wearing Corpus issue clothing. Instead, the bodysuit she wore was a neutral blue color. But it had no boots or gloves and both her hands and feet had gone numb quickly. Her head was likewise bare and careful exploration of her scalp had shown small, round patches that had been cut in her short hair, baring her skull in places. She was alone, unarmed and unarmored. She was freezing and there was nothing she could-

"Here."

A soft voice sounded from nearby and Indigo J-05 tried to jerk as something settled over her. It was warm and soft, whatever it was. Then, whoever it was took her hands in their own and put them somewhere warm. Indigo J-05 hissed as spikes of agony flew through her fingers. Circulation returning. She knew that. She fought hard to keep from crying as pain erupted in her feet as well. She stared down and the warm thing was covering her feet too. She looked up and went completely still. The face that was looking at her wasn't human!

The thing that looked like a woman wore an odd garment that was many shades of dark blue and purple, but all that paled beside the headdress that covered her head almost completely. The only part not covered by the blue helmet was the mouth. A mouth that was smiling sadly.

"Indigo J-05." The Lotus said softly as the Corpus Educator tried to recoil and couldn't. "You are a mess. The Sentients hurt you very badly."

"What... have... you... done to me?" Indigo J-05 managed to get the words out as a croak.

"Saved your life." The Lotus did not -quite-sigh. "I know you are cold and it hurts. But we needed to know why they targeted you."

"What did you do to me?" The Corpus woman tried to demand, but it came out a whine.

"I make no excuses for interrogating you." The Lotus said quietly as she finished wrapping what looked like for all the worlds like a blanket around the Corpus woman before stepping back. "We needed to know what they did to you. We needed to know what you found."

"Could have just _asked_." Indigo J-05 snapped. Or, she tried to. Her mouth wasn't working quite right.

"Really?" The Lotus was calm, so calm. Indigo J-05 wanted nothing more than to wipe that sort of smile off the woman's face, but knew she couldn't move much at the moment. "If I had sent one of mine to talk, what would you have done? I mean, besides try to disable the warframe to sell to the highest bidder?" Her tone changed. Now it held a mix of anger, sorrow and old pain.

Indigo J-05 did not respond, she curled up in her blanket and tried to force her body to react. It did, but sluggishly. How long had she been cold?

"Eight hours." The Lotus said quietly and Indigo J-05 jerked. She hadn't said that aloud, had she? "No. You didn't." The Lotus replied to the unspoken question. "But right now, I am the only one who can talk to you safely. That will change, but at this moment? You needed help. I am not human. You are not one of mine, but you are hurting because of my family."

"What are you?" Indigo J-05 begged, trying to sidle away from the standing blue not-a-woman, but her body would not react as it should. She stopped trying when she nearly fell over.

"That goes back a long way and you do not want to know the whole truth." The Lotus knelt slowly. "Simply put, I am not human. The Orokin did not understand what they were doing when they sent terraforming drones and personnel to another star. Their hubris blinded them to the dangers and they paid for it along with many, many others." Indigo J-05 stared at her, confused, and the Lotus shook her head. "Later for that, once you have recovered enough to be curious. For now, just be calm. Relax if you can. Your friend Marian R-23 is recovering as well. The fight with the Sentients destroyed most of the ship you were on. There were few survivors."

"We have been written off." Indigo J-05 said flatly. The Lotus nodded. "Then any codes I know or she knows will be useless. We don't know anything else. Why interrogate us?"

"You are not ready for that." The Lotus shook her head. "Not yet. Not for a while."

"Tell me!" Indigo J-05 snapped, her ire banishing the last of the cold that surrounded her. She felt...something happen and then she was lying on the floor, her face on fire. The Lotus returned to her sitting posture. Had she _slapped_ Indigo?

"This is going to be harder than I thought." The Lotus said with a frown. "Not conscious. Autonomic? Possession? No. No other presences, but you are human in every way. Odd." She tilted her head in a curious gesture. "Do you even know what you just did?"

"What are you _talking_ about?" Indigo J-05 tried to scream that, but it came out a croak again.

"You don't know." The Lotus nodded. "That is good. That means it isn't a new Corpus technology. Which is very good. Well, maybe not for _you_." Now her face held sympathy. "We will not be cruel, Indigo J-05."

"What are you-" Indigo J-05 felt something waft over her. It was cold, so cold. She felt her limbs go numb again. Her teeth started to chatter. "No."

"It is all right." The Lotus was holding her again as the cold permeated through Indigo J-05 again. "When you wake, this will all just have been a bad dream. The Sentients will not be able to find you again. We will give you a new life, new purpose to replace what we stole from you. But we must protect ourselves as well." Something seeped into Indigo J-05's now numb mind. _What do you want to do?_

 _Why?_ Indigo J-05 begged as the cold turned to warm and she was floating.

 _Because there is a difference between pragmatism and evil._ The Lotus said as Indigo J-05 fell into darkness that was oddly comforting. _I have had to do both to protect my children and I will again, I am sure. Here and now? I don't have to. Rest now, but think of what you want to be._

Indigo J-05 had never thought to feel such comfort from a being who wasn't human.

* * *

Nearby, a few minutes later

"She has no idea." The Lotus said softly as she watched medics work cautiously on the unconscious Indigo J-05. "None. The other?"

"Nothing." The other one in the room said quietly. "No abnormalities, no errant energy. They were likely going to enthrall her." The Lotus did not react and the speaker shook his head. "Lotus..."

"Indigo J-05 is a danger." The Lotus said with a frown. "But she doesn't understand why or how. She doesn't understand what she did to find the record she found. There is no way she can possibly understand what she did."

"The interrogations?" The other was still quiet. "She cannot stay here."

"I know." The Lotus said with a sigh. "I know of a few places that could use an Educator but she won't be happy doing that and a mind wipe likely won't work. Marian R-23 can and will find a new life. Indigo J-05?" She slumped a bit. "She is not one of mine, but I do feel responsible. I sent Olim and his team as soon as I saw the report."

"What does she want to do?" The other asked. The Lotus did not reply and the other had her answer. "I see."

"She will press." The Lotus said sadly. "She will keep looking. She has the itch of curiosity now. No matter what we do, she will go looking. On her own if she has to."

"And is that a bad thing?" The other demanded. The Lotus looked at the form who finally resolved into a woman wearing a golden gown and crown. Eliza, the last ruler of the feeble remnants of Orokin, shook her head. The entire area coalesced into a recognizably virtual environment.

"Anything that might threaten the Tenno is a bad thing." The Lotus said with a frown. "What just happened with Teshin was my-" She broke off as Eliza hauled back a hand and slapped her! "Eliza!"

"Don't make me hit you again." Eliza was waving her hand gingerly. "That armor _hurts_." She smiled grimly at the Lotus' expression. "You didn't want your kids to hurt. I get that. The memories of what happened aboard the Zarimon. What they did. It was bad. I am not debating whether telling them was right or wrong. I am not their mother." The Lotus slumped a little and Eliza held out a hand. "Lotus, it isn't your fault."

"I knew it would be hard, Eliza. Putting them into the Second Dream was hard enough, but this?" The Lotus let Eliza take her hand gently. "But when they came back from the fortress, they..." She slumped. "They are growing up. Finally."

Her tone was a mix of old pain, old fear, hew hope and new fear. Her children were everything for her. She had literally given up everything for them and she would do it again if needed. A mother's love knew no bounds.

"Yes." Eliza gave the blue garbed not-human's hand a squeeze before releasing it. "None of them had a childhood after the accident. The horrors they endured marked them as indelibly as the horrors they endured after my esteemed kinsmen found them again."

This last was bitter. Then again, Eliza herself had been on the wrong side of Orokin 'justice' quite a bit in her life. Small wonder she had run away to live with Tenno. She had little use for any who demanded things they had not earned. No one sane tried to pressure her or worse _bribe her!_ She was a true descendant of Talia the First, the originator of the Orokin Empire. The woman who had finally managed to create a world government that worked and get Earth's warring tribes to unite under her banner. It hadn't been easy or quick and Talia's ruthlessness was legendary even today. Her kindness and mercy hadn't made it into the history books.

 _History books..._ Eliza stiffened and the Lotus looked at her.

"Eliza?" The guardian and guide of the Tenno asked carefully. But the Empress was eyeing the now sleeping human in the virtual cell. The medics had finished their work. The Lotus shook her head and when she spoke, her tone was worried. "I know that look."

"Yes, I did just have an idea." Eliza smiled at the Lotus who tensed. "She is a danger to anyone and everyone around her. Not by choice, but by some astronomically remote chance of genetics. She is not Tenno. She is human."

"She won't understand why... she..." The Lotus trailed off and then hissed. "No."

"Lotus, where else can she go?" Eliza asked quietly. "She isn't Tenno. She isn't Corpus anymore after being written off. If they find her, they will execute her. The Grineer will kill her. The Sentient will _use_ her."

"I was going to ask the Caretakers." The Lotus asked softly. Eliza just looked at her and the Lotus actually shrank back from what shone in the Empress' gaze. "I know. But I wanted to ask."

"Do you have _any_ idea how they would react to you _asking_ them to _subsume_ someone?" Eliza's cool voice held fear and disgust. Small wonder. The Caretakers of the Unclean had a very nasty job. Dealing with Infested had always been a Tenno priority. Things had changed a little. "Mishka would flay you alive and I won't even go into what Jasmina or Elenia would likely do."

"I didn't say it was a _good_ idea." The Lotus protested. "I just wanted to ask."

" _Don't_." Eliza commanded. "We are _barely_ back on speaking terms with them again after all the messes. After what happened to Caretaker Elenia." She shuddered. That had been too close. Seeing the Caretaker literally _die_ at her feet had been bad. Having _Nikis_ of all people go bonkers just afterwards had been worse! "I do not want to jeopardize the minimal contact we have. They make me very nervous, but they have their duty and they do it. We will not interfere and _you_ will not _ask_ something so blatantly insulting." This last was also a command.

"Eliza!" The Lotus griped.

"What do the probabilities say, Lotus?" Eliza did not -quite- snarl that. "If you ask the Caretakers such a thing?"

The Lotus was not human. She didn't think like a human. She had never been human. Once, she had been Tenno, and then she had merged with an AI. Then she had been sent with many others to work on terraforming another star and it had not gone as anyone had expected. It was a long story and most of it bad, but she was not human even if she mostly looked it. To her credit? She never claimed to be human. Her thought processes were far faster and she thought almost entirely in mathematics. She could run hypothetical scenarios in seconds that would have taken a human mathematician hours or days of work. She slumped a bit and Eliza had her answer.

"They won't react well." The Lotus said finally.

"Ya _think?_ " Eliza sniffed derisively.

"So what do we do with Indigo J-05?" The Lotus demanded. "From her reactions, she does not understand what is happening or why. She did not plan this. We cannot let her there, Eliza. We cannot."

"I don't think that is our call, Lotus." Eliza said quietly. "Our choices are fairly simple. Kill her. Put her in stasis, probably forever. Or find another way." The Lotus was shaking her head savagely and Eliza shook hers once. "Lotus, finding other ways is what they _did_. They are not yours."

"They are not mine." The words were manifestly against the will of the guide of the Tenno. "Eliza!" She begged.

"Will you kill her?" Eliza asked. "I can't. She hasn't _done_ anything." The Lotus just looked at her and Eliza grimaced. "Okay yes, she has, but it wasn't a conscious choice. Every scan says she doesn't have a clue. Olim couldn't hold her. We can't hold her. You can't hold her. Maybe they can."

"And if they can't?"

"It wouldn't be the first time."

* * *

An hour later, virtual time

"You want... _what_?"

This meeting too was virtual. The being that had been contacted _defined_ paranoid. Then again, she had reason. Eliza stood beside the Lotus as they waited for the other to think through the proposal. The Saryn Prime was shaking her head, not in negation. More bemused?

"We cannot hold her here, Tenno Rachel." Eliza said sadly. "She has no control."

"And you want to send her _here._ " Rachel demanded angrily. "Why should we trust you?"

That hurt, but in the end, it had been the Orokin who had attacked Rachel and her kin. Who had taken their master to do experiments on him. To try and enslave him. It hadn't been at the Emperor's command and when he had discovered what had happened, his rage had been intense by all accounts. That didn't change the fact that Richard, the First Rhino, had been taken and another Tenno killed in the process. The Remnants of the First did not trust Orokin. At all.

"You shouldn't." Eliza replied calmly. "Pragmatically speaking, I should order this woman executed. But she hasn't done anything, Tenno Rachel!"

Rachel looked at the Lotus who frowned a little.

"She tried." The blue garbed nonhuman said quietly. "It wasn't conscious. I stopped her. We cannot hold her, Tenno Rachel." She was as formal as Eliza. Formality was good when dealing with someone who wasn't sure if she was an enemy or not. Good news was that Rachel did not want to be one. "Death or permanent stasis are the only other options we see."

"So death or a slow lingering death." Rachel crossed her arms. "And you want _us_ to be your executioners."

"No." Eliza said simply. "I am hoping -praying- you can find a better way. She was a soldier but all Corpus are. Mainly, she is a teacher. It is twisted as in all things Corpus, but she was curious about the past. We think that is what brought this on. She sought knowledge."

"What knowledge?" Rachel demanded.

"She found a reference to the Citadel." The Lotus replied. Rachel stilled and the Lotus continued. "She thought it was simply a pre-Orokin vault according to our interrogations. Problem is, the text she deciphered, she should not have been able to."

"Let me talk to her." Rachel said after a moment's thought.

"Tenno Rachel..." Eliza protested. "That is very dangerous!" Rachel just shook her head.

"I talk to her or no deal."


	4. Chapter 4

**Missing Advanced Registration Knowledge**

Indigo J-05 was dreaming. On one level, she knew she was. On another? She was having the time of her _life_!

She didn't know why she was wearing what she was or even what it was called. The clothing looked, felt and even _smelled_ ancient. The dark pants that she wore were made of some kind of vegetable fiber. She could tell by the feel. The shirt, likewise. The boots and pants seemed to be made of some kind of animal skin. At least, that was what it seemed to her, she had never touched such a thing before. The only animals that she might have encountered in space would have been Grineer Drahks or Hyekkas and no one sane wanted to fight those. But all that paled beside what was on her head.

She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew it was cool. It was some kind of headgear of course, but it had no tech whatsoever. It too was made of some kind of leathery material she had no words for but the broad brim kept the light of the Sun out of her eyes as she walked along the odd overgrown path that she had realized suddenly that she was walking on. Wherever she was, it was very hot and humid, far more than any Corpus ship would ever get. She had taken the hat off at one point to mop her forehead and examined it. (And when was the last time she had sweated in a dream?) There was nothing off about the hat except that she had never seen the like before.

The other things were also odd, but easier to rationalize. The whip at her side was familiar even if not quite what she was used to. The pistol? Not so much. A quick check had shown it to be an ancient design that used actual brass _cartridges_! It held six of the large stubby things and she had a box of thirty more in a pocket. A quick examination of the box showed the cartridges to be '.45 caliber ball', whatever that meant. She had studied such weapons in her education, but they had all gone away pre-Orokin when energy weapons and caseless rounds had done away with the need to jacket weapon propellants in such ancient means of controlling the expansion of said propellants.

But the weapon fit her hand when she touched it's handle. The whip, likewise. This was _easily_ the _weirdest_ dream she had ever encountered. She knew she had to go somewhere and walking was fun. She was exerting herself, sweating and all, but she was having fun!

"This is a really weird dream." Indigo muttered to herself as she walked across log that had a fallen log that crossed a flowing waterway. Was this a stream like she had read about? She could smell things, some nice, some not very nice. She saw something jump out of the water and stiffened as a fish with far too many teeth to be natural flew to land back in the water nearby. "Okay... No swimming. Dreams are subconscious images pulled to the fore by a sleeping mind., I... I don't know this place. That animal. I don't. How can I dream of something I don't know?"

"This isn't a dream." Indigo J-05 jumped almost a full meter into the air as a voice came from nowhere. She spun around, her whip in hand but the trail she was following was empty of all life but her. The voice chuckled. It was female, distant, but held a tinge of amusement and maybe a hint of sympathy. "I am not really there."

"Who are you?" Indigo J-05 demanded, spinning in a complete circle again. She didn't see anyone or anything out of the ordinary. Well, except for the huge trees and the overgrown trail she was following. She had no idea where she was, or what she was doing here, but the sun wasn't being filtered by any dome or material she could see, so it was likely Earth. " _Where_ are you?"

"My name is Rachel." The other sounded formal, but a bit gentle too. As if she knew how confused Indigo J-05 was and how frazzled by everything that had happened. "And as to where I am? Not there. It is complicated." Now her tone was dry.

"If this is your idea of _funny_..." Indigo J-05 growled in a low, dangerous voice.

"I didn't do this." Rachel replied evenly. "I don't know what this is. I do not know why you are there." She paused. "I can make guesses, but that is about it."

"That is more than _I_ know." Indigo J-05 said with a sigh as she forced herself to relax. "I just... This doesn't make any _sense!_ "

"No." Rachel agreed, her tone now openly sympathetic. "It doesn't. But I can offer some aid, if you wish." Indigo J-05 stiffened and Rachel was quick to speak again. "With no obligation incurred by you. I am not of your Corpus, but I am also not motivated by Profit. I have my own reasons for doing what I do and they may or may not always coincide with your reasons, but I will try not to be rude."

"If you are not Corpus, what are you?" Indigo J-05 demanded.

"Do you really want to know?" Rachel asked, her tone oddly mild. "Whatever is going on is likely going to test your sanity. I won't lie to you. There is a chance you will not survive this. Whatever it is." Oddly enough, that didn't worry Indigo J-05.

"Waking every day is a risk." Indigo J-05 said with a sigh as she slung her whip at her side. "Breathing is risk at times."

She started off again. The trail turned into rocky ground she started up a hill, only to pause as a dark opening came into sight. A familiar symbol shone on a stone plinth next to the dark opening.

"You have to be kidding." Indigo J-05 said with a gulp as she stared at the Orokin symbol on the stone slab.

"Stood to reason it would be Orokin of some kind." Rachel said from wherever she was. "They did get their mitts into all kinds of things."

"What do you know of the Orokin?" Indigo J-05 demanded, not moving even though the sun was hot and the cave looked far cooler. Shade might be a good things, or it might have some kind of indigenous inhabitants already. The last thing she wanted to do was encounter some larger jungle creature in a cramped environment underground.

"Far too much." Rachel's voice was cool, but a hint of old pain, old loss, sounded in it. Indigo J-05 paused in her response and then shook her head. "For what it is worth, not much... I don't think an animal would stay in there. Most Orokin facilities had wards to keep out wildlife as a matter of course."

"And none of those could have failed in the time since the Collapse?" Indigo J-05 asked with a grunt.

"The Orokin did build things to last. Much of their infrastructure tech has survived to this day still functioning unless dismantled or destroyed." Rachel was thoughtful now. "I don't see any tracks. Do you?"

"I wouldn't know what to look for." Indigo J-05 admitted.

"Any motion across a surface will leave evidence of said motion." Rachel replied calmly. "Whether the motion is caused by something as small as an atom or something as large as an old Earth whale there will be disturbances in or on the surface they are moving across. Do you see anything that looks like an animal track or any disturbances in the ground at all?"

"No." Indigo J-05 said after a moment of scrutiny. "I see tracks all around, but none going in." She started forward, only to pause as Rachel hissed.

"That doesn't mean there is nothing in there." Rachel warned. Indigo J-05 paused and then nodded, drawing her odd firearm. "Probably not, but better safe than sorry."

"Why do you care about me?" Indigo J-05asked as she sidled up towards the cave, every sense on hyperalert.

"I don't." Rachel was bluntly honest. "I do not know you. You are human, with all of the good and bad that the history of humanity holds. There are no creatures that have been discovered yet that have the same capacity for both good and evil as humans have shown."

"I..." Indigo J-05 slumped a bit. "Yes. That is true. We Corpus are taught one view. That one way is the only way. But that is not true and I know it isn't even when I have to toe the line."

"Survival trumps morals much of the time." Rachel reassured her. "I don't think the less of you because of that. Careful." She warned needlessly as Indigo J-05 reached the cave mouth.

It _was_ a cave mouth, not a machined opening. Peering inside, Indigo J-05 could see a tunnel leading deeper into the hill. She didn't see any sign of animals at all, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. She checked the floor and walls but nothing shone. It was a natural cave mouth, but the walls had been lined with stone. Or... the tunnel had been dug and the entrance disguised a cave? Or something. She examined the stone walls and the work was ancient, but well done. The blocks were well joined with what looked mortar.

"Wow." Indigo J-05 mused. "This place is old."

"Pre-Orokin." Rachel agreed. "The glyph outside is a warning about horrible deaths for trespassers."

"How do you know that?" Indigo J-05 demanded from where she tensed.

"I just looked it up." Rachel had a remarkably innocent voice when she wanted to use it.

"Riiiight." Indigo J-05 snarled. "Any more hoops for this trained Drahk to jump through?" She took and a step and stopped as Rachel cried out.

"Freeze!" The other said sharply and Indigo J-05 did as directed. "Don't step into the light!"

Ahead of Indigo J-05 were several patches of light that were apparently being filtered down somehow to illuminate the tunnel. They were not golden tinged, like in any Orokin facility that Indigo J-05 had ever seen records of. Indeed, they were reddish. But it was what lay in one of the pools of light that had caught the other's attention. A human skeleton sat oddly canted on the ground, as if it had been thrown there. Some of the bones were broken and a hole shone in the skull.

"What the hell?" Indigo J-05 asked, confused. There was no reply and she snarled halfheartedly. "All right, all right, I will figure this out on my own."

"And likely get killed." Rachel's dry tone came back. "This isn't a dream. If you die here, your mind will most certainly take critical damage. So don't, all right? I am looking things up now. I think... Yes. I think this trap is triggered by occlusion of light. Is there something you can throw to test?"

" _Where_ are you looking this up?" Indigo J-05 asked as she cast about, but nothing presented itself. "This is in no databanks I have ever seen."

"You wouldn't believe me." Rachel's tone was dry again. "Nothing?"

"If I were setting a trap, I wouldn't have it set to go off for anything smaller than a human size." Indigo J-05 said with a frown. "Inefficient if it keeps going off and the Orokin were always about efficiency."

"Most of the time." Rachel said darkly. "Hey!"

Indigo J-05 paid the other no mind as she strode forward into the light and then jumped back. Just in time. A line of sharp metal spear like things that extended from floor to ceiling slid across the corridor and then retracted back into the wall with a click.

"That was _dumb_." Rachel didn't quite snarl that. "What if they had set two traps or more on the same trigger?"

"Then I would be dead." Indigo J-05 slunk forward, keeping to the shadows. "But... that would...be inefficient." She muttered as she slid from shadow to shadow.

She was quickly at the end of the corridor and peering into another room. She did not move even when she saw a pedestal ahead that contained something incredible! An Ayatan sculpture! A live one! Just finding such a thing would have set her for life amongst the Corpus. But...

"For a moment, I thought you would run in." Rachel sounded tense now.

"I might be crazy." Indigo J-05 said flatly. "I am not stupid. Why have such a large open room with an obvious treasure inside instead of in a _vault_?" She shook her head. "That is bait. So... Where is the trap?"

There was a sizeable rock near her right foot and on impulse, she kicked it. Her eyes went huge as the rock skittered across the floor. As it hit several different stones set in the floor, soft 'phut' noises sounded from the walls and thing started impacting the floor near the rock.

"Ah, okay..." Rachel sounded both awed and worried now. "Pressure sensitive flooring."

"If whatever was throwing those projectiles did not stop, then they must either have lots in reserve or the means to make more." Indigo J-05 said as she watched the rock come to a halt against a step that led up to the dais on which the sculpture sat. The darts stopped when the rock did. "Whatever those darts do cannot be good."

"Ya _think?_ " Rachel demanded and Indigo J-05 had to chuckle at that. "Your attire will not stop those things and there is nothing to shoot."

"I won't have to." Indigo J-05 said, studying the ceiling. A sudden silence from the other had Indigo J-05 smiling as she saw what she wanted.

"You are not going to do what I _think_ you are going to do..." Rachel asked, suddenly apprehensive. " _Are_ you?"

Instead of answering, Indigo J-05 drew her whip and lashed out with it carefully. The ancient thing wasn't nearly as extensible as her preferred Lecta, but it served nicely. The small end spun out over the floor and swung twice around the small metal thing that Indigo J-05 had noticed set into the ceiling. Some kind of illumination hanger? Maybe. It wouldn't hold her long, but it should hold long enough.

She jumped and pulled at the same time. It wasn't a long distance, but Indigo J-05's heart was in her mouth as she flew. If she had been off at all, she could land on the floor short of her goal and probably be perforated by a dozen darts before she could recover enough to move. She hadn't miscalculated. She landed on her feet and staggered as she fought to keep her balance on the step. She managed with the help of the whip that was still stuck to the ceiling hangar.

"You are out of your mind!" Rachel wasn't happy at all. "What if the _step_ had been trapped?"

"Then I would be dead." Indigo J-05 was gulping down deep breaths. "But what is the point of a test that has no solution?" There was a sudden silence and Indigo J-05 smiled grimly. "This is a test, isn't it?"

Nothing else made sense. She was a prisoner. Of Tenno and/or the Lotus. She had been interrogated. She knew that. She had fallen asleep or been put back into cryo. She remembered intense cold, so probably stasis or cryo.

"Not mine." Rachel said quietly. "You think that hanger thing will hold you to get out?"

"One thing at a time." Indigo J-05 retrieved her whip with a flick of her wrist. She stared at the sculpture and the pedestal on which it sat. She closed her eyes. "Anything you can tell me?"

"It is probably sitting on a pressure plate." Rachel said softly. "At least, that is the image I am getting. Most of the references I can find for such things are similiar. Pick it up and bad things happen."

"But this is obviously the point of this whole escapade. Everything led to here." Indigo J-05 frowned. "This is the kind of thing any Corpus would give half his profits for because he knows it would make him richer than he could imagine." As she stared, the sculpture came to life before her widening eyes. She stared at it as it whirred and clicked. "This test is for me."

For the first time, she looked _behind_ the pedestal and froze. Something misshapen lay on a table near the wall. She took a slow step towards it.

"Indigo J-05! No!" Rachel warned. "Don't!"

"That is a..." Indigo swallowed hard as she saw a warframe lying on the table. She thought it was a Nyx version. It looked... half eaten. Underneath the armor was flesh and it too was torn and broken. Something deep inside her quailed, but it wasn't just her revulsion at the ancient war machine. No. A feeling of pain, of fear, of loss came from inside her. "No."

"Indigo J-05,step away... Now." Rachel warned.

"She died, didn't she?" Indigo J-05 said softly. There was no response and she bowed her head. "I didn't think Tenno were sentient. I thought they were just war machines. Ancient weapons. But I can feel its... _her_ pain. Her fear. Her need to... to save _me_? I..."

"Step away from the warframe." This was a command from Rachel and Indigo J-05 did as ordered.

"She died for me, didn't she?" Indigo J-05 asked softly. "I didn't think Tenno _could_ die."

"Anything that lives can die." Rachel was calm again. "You need to finish."

"No." Indigo J-05 was not arguing. She simply wasn't going to keep jumping through hoops.

"I do not know what caused this or why." Rachel was still so maddeningly calm. "But I do know mind loops. If you do not finish, then you will likely be stuck in whatever this is for the rest of your life."

"Is there no chance for her?" Indigo J-05 asked.

"Half of her very _being_ was torn from her and corrupted." Rachel said sadly. "Short answer? No. You need to end this."

"Fine." Indigo J-05 spun and pulled the sculpture from the pedestal . Rachel screamed as a horrible grating sound came from behind the human, but Indigo J-05 did not move even as a new sound came to her, something was approaching. Rolling?

She stared down at the sculpture and smiled as something slammed into her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the lengthy delay. Computer died completely, had to get a new one.**

* * *

 **Limits**

She was falling.

She was lying on something.

She was standing upright

She was kneeling.

She was screaming.

She was silent.

She was-

"Enough! Wake up!" A familiar voice thundered in Indigo J-05's ear and she was reeling even before she jerked back from whatever she had been lying on to roll to her feet.

Er, she _tried_.

Before she could get halfway to her feet, her arms were grabbed from behind and insanely strong grips held her in place despite her struggles. She tried to get loose, ignoring the pain in her skull as she fought to get free of whoever had her. She threw herself against whatever was holding her, but she might as well have been trying to bend bars made of titanium. She kept struggling even as she noticed forms in golden gowns retreating to a door that opened for them and shut just as quickly.

 _Indigo J-05. Calm down._ This was Rachel, but it wasn't aloud. _We cannot release you until you calm. You cannot take control of me. Calm. Down._ She repeated with the bite of command in her tone.

"Let me _go!_ " Indigo J-05 screamed, fighting for all she was worth. A sigh reverberated through her skull and then something touched the back of her head. She sagged, instantly boneless. She flopped and her gaze traveled down to her hands. Which were not her hands. They were the same armored things she had seen on the ship when she had woken and tried to flee the Tenno and Sentients. The rest of her body that she could see was the same kind of metal.

"We can't." Rachel's voice was sad and sick as someone -no some _ **thing**_ _!_ \- moved to stand in front of Indigo J-05. A taloned hand reached down to pull Indigo J-05's jaw up gently and she saw the horror that stood in front of her. The Saryn Prime warframe nodded to her and Rachel's voice came from it. "Hello Indigo J-05. I am Rachel."

"You are Tenno." Indigo J-05 managed through whatever was holding her and the Saryn nodded again.

"I am." Rachel dropped her hand back when it was clear that Indigo J-05 could hold her head up. "And _you_ are in big trouble."

"Funny." Indigo J-05 spat. "Ha. Ha. I am dead. I have to be dead. Tenno don't talk! So... This is either a fever dream, a hallucination or I am dead and this is my last thoughts or..."

"You are not dead." Rachel said with a shrug. "Not yet anyway. The day is young though. You are not going to break the mind lock that binds you and even if you could? You couldn't break that grip, girl. _I_ might not be able to." A touch of self deprecating humor sounded in her voice.

"What have you done to me?" Indigo J-05 demanded as angrily as she could. It came out more of a whine.

"We didn't." Rachel was still quiet. Indigo J-05 saw weapons attached to the warframe but she couldn't identify them. "We do not know what happened or why. What we do know is that instead of you being asleep inside the warframe's buffers while we transported you to safety, you woke up." Indigo J-05 tried to shake her head savagely and managed only a little twitch. "You shouldn't have been able to wake. You shouldn't have been able to move. You _certainly_ shouldn't have been able to access the warframe's systems and try to use them."

Indigo J-05 had been trying to marshal her strength for an effort to break free of whatever held her, but the final words from the Saryn warfarme had her pausing in shock.

"I didn't." Indigo J-05 said flatly.

"You did." Rachel's response was just as flat.

"I couldn't have done that!" Indigo J-05 said with a snap. "I am not Tenno. Not a Betr-" She broke off suddenly aware of her vulnerability. Insulting the Tenno who had the Educator at her mercy was likely not a good idea. If Tenno _had_ mercy.

"No, you are not." Rachel agreed. "And I don't care what Corpus call us. Orokin had it coming." Indigo J-05 felt even more shock reverberate through her at the Saryn's cold, hard words. Rachel shook her head. "Or do you think only _humans_ should be allowed to betray each other?"

"You destroyed Orokin!" Indigo J-05 fought to snap that through whatever was holding her.

"Technically, Orokin destroyed _itself_. They set the wheels of destruction in motion themselves in the name of money and power. They created the Sentients and of course, when they couldn't control their creations, they made more weapons. Slave have a tendency to not like _being_ slaves." Rachel didn't seem offended at all. Maybe she simply did not care. "I was not involved. I had seen Orokin 'justice' firsthand and wanted nothing to do with it, or _them_ , again. I was misled, but the fact is... Orokin was not a good place to be someone other than a highest caste member." She shook her head again. "Anyway, enough history. You are in trouble."

"You don't _say_." Indigo J-05 managed to put quite a bit of snark into that. Again, the Tenno seemed far from offended. Indeed, Rachel chuckled. "Go on, laugh it up, Tenno. How long until you kill me?"

"Unless you give us a reason, we won't." Rachel said mildly. "We want to know what the Sentients wanted you for. But that doesn't mean we have to be-" She broke off and hissed as Indigo J-05 tensed. "No! Don't-" She slumped a bit as Indigo J-05 managed to get a bit of leverage and twisted herself to slip free of her captor. Or, that is what _should_ have happened. Instead, the grips tightened and then twisted. Two sick cracks sounded quick succession and then pain slammed into Indigo J-05 from _both_ of her arms. "Damn. I warned you not to do that."

Indigo J-05 wasn't capable of reply as pain sang through her. She could barely feel as the grips that held her lowered her to the floor. She lay on her stomach as pain lanced through her entire being. She was drowning in it and-

 _Easy..._ A new voice sounded in Indigo J-05's head and the pain abated a little. _Don't struggle. Karl doesn't want to hurt you any more than he has, but he_ **will** _if you keep fighting. Calm. Be calm._ The voice was soothing and Indigo J-05 felt peace flow through her. _We need to separate you from the warframe and it is going to hurt._

"Worse than this?" Indigo J-05 pleaded, hating the whining tone that sounded, but powerless to stop it..

 _Yes._ The other was sad, but the feel that touched Indigo J-05's mind was so calming. So gentle. _It is all right. It is going to hurt, but we can help. Let us help._

"She doesn't understand, Falcon." A deep male voice sounded from close at hand as the strong hands held her face down on the floor. "She can't. Do it quick, Rachel. Before she tries again."

Indigo J-05 started to protest only to scream as agony like nothing else she had ever encountered tore through her. It seemed to come from inside her head, but it wasn't just there. It seemed to come from every corner of her being and she was…

 _Easy._ The not quite audible female voice from before was louder now and she felt _something_ scoop her up and hold her in a grip that was tight but not confining. Gentle, but irresistible. The pain doubled and then redoubled, but she was above it or outside it or something. Then it ended and Indigo J-05 could do nothing but sob. _It is all right. It is all right._ The voice crooned to her as something soothed the horrible memories of her pain away. _Rest now._

She couldn't resist as the comfort eased her into darkness.

* * *

Rachel stood silently as Karl lowered the destroyed Nyx warframe to the ground. A glowing ball of energy floated above it. No one spoke as the pitch black Nekros warframe that had been behind them all along reached out to touch the ball of energy. The energy vanished for a moment and then his other hand came up and dark orange power fell from it in an oddly disturbing waterfall. Rachel watched silently as the orange power formed a human outline and then, like a waft of dream, the human that Rachel had seen in the records from the assault force was lying on the ground, unconscious.

The Nekros grunted, dropped his arms and moved towards the exit.

"Nikis?" Rachel asked carefully. Angering the eldest of the Guardians of the Dead was rarely a good idea.

"She ain't dead." The old curmudgeon said flatly. "Not my problem."

"Do you know how she did that?" Rachel pressed. 'She wasn't supposed to be able to do that."

"No." Nikis replied, but paused at the door. "All I got is guesses. She didn't plan it though. She ain't a threat unless we make her one. Thing is… if she did it once, she will again. You know what the Elders will say." He went still as Rachel drew herself up. "Girl."

"Nikis, we have done horrible things. I do not want to kill a human who has not attacked us." Rachel sighed as she stared at the unconscious woman. "We need more information."

"The Elders are goin' to be pragmatic, darlin'. In this case? I can see the point." Nikis had no weapon in hand, but it would the work of milliseconds for the gunfighter to draw and fire. "She was in control of the warframe. A human. That cannot stand." The other Tenno in the room moved slowly, but in moments, the white Rhino warframe stood between Nikis and the unconscious human. Rachel moved to stand beside him. The black Nekros shook his head. "Always the hard way, huh, numbnuts?"

Then he was gone.

Rachel let out the breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. One did _not_ casually confront such a power. One certainly did nto argue with Nikis if one had any sense at all. He liked her, true, but there were limits to all things. She turned to the Rhino and he was shaking his head. "Problem?"

"I do not remember him." The Rhino said weakly. "But he knew me. I saw the records. I know who and what I was. But I am not him. I am not the Karl they knew."

"That is why we let you come here." Rachel had never dealt with such a situation before. Karl had been a warrior Tenno of renown. A leader of Tenno held up as an example of honor and loyalty. Then he had died and somehow, part of him had survived. But not all of him. His former clan were good people, and they had tried very hard to be fair. But almost all of them had expected him to suddenly be the one he had been again. It was not going to happen. "Let's get her to Roger. Falcon? How is she?"

 _She sleeps, poor dear._ The voice of the insubstantial Tenno was sad. _She truly does not know why happened or why. I sense no dishonesty in her. She is no threat_ _by choice_ _. But she is_ _one_ _._

"I know." Rachel shook her head as Karl carefully picked up the sleeping human and cradled her. "Monitor her please. I do not want her waking until we have her secure."

 _This feels wrong._ Falcon sounded close to tears.

"Yeah." Rachel led the way out of the room and into gleaming silver halls. "It does."

The Citadel was an ancient place. It had been old before Orokin had risen to dominance across the solar system. It had started as a refuge for Tenno from the machinations of humanity and to this day, it still served that purpose.

What very few humans knew was that now there were actually three distinct groups of Tenno. The most numerous and the ones that most of the solar system knew were the Tenno who had been created by the Orokin during their war with the Sentients. The golden overlords had taken humans warped by the Void and built warframes for them. Said warframes were pale imitations of the original designs, but still incredibly powerful, as both the Sentients and then the Orokin had found out. The Zarimon children, survivors of a horrific accident that had given them incredible power and left them so much less than humans, were the second group. They had long identified themselves with Tenno, but only recently had they become what they had dreamed of being. That was both a boon and a curse for beings so powerful that normal humans could not stand in their presence unprotected for long. That left Rachel and her few kin.

Rachel walked out the door and stiffened as the crowd just outside all froze. She shook her head and waved for Karl to pass her. He carried the sleeping human through the group who parted for him. Roger, the Tenno wearing a Volt warframe that served as the Citadel's doctor, nodded to Karl and the pair walked away quickly, leaving Rachel to face the group of outsiders who had come into her home. No one spoke, so Rachel took the initiative.

"She lives." Rachel said quietly. "And no. We will not kill her."

"Tenno Rachel..." The seniormost of the human medics who had come with the odd group shook his head. "She is a threat. There was nothing left of Tenno Helga, so that human was in control of the warframe."

"And?" Rachel asked, her tone quiet, but firm. More than one of the humans stiffened. "Last I checked, humans were to be protected, not killed because it was easier."

"Tenno Rachel..." The humans in charge tried again. "The Empress will order her death."

"And?" Rachel was still quiet. The humans all looked at each other. Rachel wasn't under the Empress' command. Very much not under her command. "She is here. Not anywhere else. While she is here, she is under our protection and she will not be leaving anytime soon."

Quiet words. Simple words. Words that meant a great deal of bad was about to happen.

"Rachel! No!" A firm voice sounded from the side and a path was made for a tiny Nyx warframe as she approached. "That is nowt what they are saying and you know it!"

"You are not allowed in this section, Ona." Rachel snapped right back. "Get back to your duties."

"Rachel, you are about to make a mistake." The tiny Nyx warned. "Do you think the Empress _wants_ to kill this woman? She doesn't see a _choice_. What will you do? Enslave her for the rest of her life?"

"Ona..."

Rachel fought hard to control her temper as the tiny Nyx ignored her order and moved to stand in front of her, arms at her sides. Her powers were nullified here and she was vulnerable to anything Rachel might do. Ona and her cohorts were technically in the group of Tenno created by the Orokin, but they had been failed experiments, clones that had never reached full human size and had been encased in warframes against their wills. They felt about the Orokin about the same that Rachel and her cohorts did, but there the similarities ended. Once, Rachel had called Ona 'friend and ally' but that was before she had discovered the horror that the tiny Nyx and her kin had perpetrated on an unsuspecting human. Ripping a human's mind out and molding it into a monstrosity was what Orokin did, not Tenno, even if the Elders had judged what Ona's family had done as a benefit to Tenno as a whole and pardoned them for it.

Rachel would not -could not- forget nor forgive that. The act or the lies about it.

"So, we act as Orokin." Rachel snapped at the Nyx, ignoring the golden gowned humans recoiling from her ire. No one sane wanted to be around an angry Tenno in a Saryn warframe. Especially one with legitimate grievances against Orokin authority, even if they were from the distant past. "Will _you_ murder her, Ona?"

"No." Ona said sadly. "I have done enough. Rachel… Please, don't burn any of your bridges. This human is a _danger_."

 _And if we do not find out how or why she is, she may become even more of one._ From the visible faces, the humans could hear Falcon's voice as easily as the two Tenno could. They all looked decidedly nervous. Hard to blame them. The Zarimon children were incredibly powerful and for a long time, had been considered ravening monsters with no control whatsoever. Things were better now, but a kid who could melt someone's face off accidentally was not an easy thing to be around. Good thing Falcon was both tightly controlled and incredibly empathic. _I do not like the idea of someone who can control Tenno, but she didn't plan it, Ona. She did n_ _o_ _t have a clue what was happening._

"That makes it worse." Ona was still sad. "If she cannot control herself..." She broke off as Rachel waved curtly.

"We do not know that." Rachel snapped. "All that we know, right now, is that she did what she did. Not how, why or any limitations. Falcon says she didn't understand what was happening and that meshes with my own observations. She doesn't know."

"The Sentients wanted her." Ona said very quietly. "Whatever they wanted her for cannot be good."

"So, we just kill her?" Rachel demanded. "Because of a _possible_ threat? No." She shook her head. "Go back to your duties, Ona." The tiny Nyx stared at her, then bowed her head and left. She turned to the humans and shook her head. "The human is alive and whole. Your presence is not needed any longer, medics, please leave."

"Tenno Rachel..." The human started and then slumped and nodded. Here, _her_ word was law. The group started for the door that led to a portal that would take them home. It would not take them directly there, even now, Rachel and the others like her trusted _any_ Orokin about as far as they could throw a planet.

The Empress would not be pleased, but Rachel couldn't care less.


	6. Chapter 6

**Loss**

Indigo J-05 felt bereft when she woke. She hurt and it was deep, deep inside her. But it was odd. Not like any pain she remembered or had ever heard of. She kept her breathing even as she checked her extremities carefully. Each finger and toe moved when she wished and she let out a deep breath of relief. The pain faded slowly so she cracked her eyes and froze in wonder.

She was lying on a bed in a room that defied every one of her senses. Quick, furtive glances showed she was alone in the room and wearing some kind of odd garment that covered her completely. It looked kind of like a nightgown that she had seen in some historical texts, but was unlike any gown she had ever seen before. It was a dull grey, for one thing, not any Corpus color. For another? It had no tech embedded in it that she could see. None at all. She felt something odd though and reached up to the back of her shaved skull. She touched warm metal and yanked her hand away as a warning tingle swept through it and her hand.

She sat up on the bed and stared around, eyes wide. The room was almost stark in its functionality, but it was anything but plain. The bed was set into a corner and there was precious little wasted space. The bed and a small desk with a single chair were the only furniture. Her eyes went huge as a screen appeared over the desk and a hologram of a human looking head appeared.

"Ah, you are awake." The vocie was familiar. Rachel smiled at her. "How do you feel?"

"Confused." Indigo J-05 said weakly. The room wasn't like Corpus or Grineeer tech. It wasn't even like she ahd seen in many historical documents describing Orokin architecture. Close, but not quite. But the feel was comforting. Almost like home, but this wasn't Indigo J-05's home. "So very confused. I thought...I thought I would die."

"You could have caused irreparable neural feedback doing what you did." Rachel frowned but then shook her head. "But I do not blame you in the slightest. I do not like being manipulated either."

"You said you did not do that." Indigo J-05 said slowly after a moment of parsing her memory.

"We did not." Rachel agreed. "Somehow, _you_ did it. Or someone did it _through_ you."

"You said I took control of a warframe." Indigo J-05 swallowed hard. "That is not possible."

"Possible or not, you did it." Rachel heaved a sigh. "That made a lot of people very nervous. But for now, you are safe. You are secure and safe and no one will harm you unless you provoke them. So do not do that, okay?"

"Why not kill me?" Indigo J-05 asked, confused. "I mean, that is quick and sure to solve the problem."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Rachel shook her head. "Are you up for breakfast? You may or may not be able to walk unassisted, but you will recover quickly. We figured you would wake soon. I will bring your food in."

" _You_ will." Indigo J-05 could not keep an edge of incedulity from her tone as the door hissed open and a form in a robe of a type she had never seen entered the room. She gave out a small cry as the form turned to her and the face wasn't _human!_

"It is me." Rachel's voice came from the form as it set a tray down on the desk and stepped back to the door. "Indigo J-05. I am not your enemy You are in no danger here."

"You... You are not..." Indigo J-05 had shrunk back to the head of the bed, pressing herself against the wall, getting as far away from the mishappen form as she could.

"No, I am not human." The horrific face said quietly. "I was born Tenno. Born twisted by the Technocyte Virus, but not lost or subsumed by it." She moved to the door, but stood beside it, waiting. Indigo J-05 stared from the horrific appearing form to the tray and back. Rachel's voice held humor now. "Why would I poison you after so much effort spent to keep you alive?"

"I..." Indigo J-04 swallowed hard and shook her head. "This is wrong. Tenno are..." She broke off as Rachel shrugged.

"Tenno are weapons. Yes." Rachel's tone held old pain, old sadness now. "Some of us are more. Some of us are less. Much like humans, come to think of it." She shook her head. "Your psyche profile said that you could handle seeing me in the flesh and now you are not capable of fighting or flight so it is the best time for you to get the shock over with."

"You did a psyche profile while I _slept_?" Indigo J-05 demanded and then blanched, but Rachel just chuckled. "What?"

"No, actually." Rachel sounded genuinely amused now. "We 'borrowed' your Corpus one." The recumbent female stared at the nonhuman in disbelief and Rachel shook her head again. "Come on, Indigo J-05. Think. What is happening here?" At that, Indigo J-05's mouth fell open and the other laughed. "Close your mouth, flies will get in."

"I..." Indigo J-95 shook her own head, stunned by all of this. "This doesn't make any sense."

"Yes, it does." Rachel corrected gently. "You just do not have all of the information. So. Process what you have." The words were familiar. Indigo J-05 had said such so many times to others. Such familairity was comforting in the face of a scary unknown.

"I am human." Indigo J-05 said after a moment. "The Sentients wanted me for some reason. One of them spoke aloud and said 'That one'." Rachel nodded and the human continued. "But why? I mean..." She paused and then hissed. "Because I did what I did to the warframe. However I did it. They knew? No." She shook her head again. "That is not right. They wanted me for something. But alive. Not dead. Marian R-23 was down, they would have..." She broke off and blanched. "Marian R-23! Is _she_...?"

"Your companion is alive." Rachel's tone was heavier than it should have been and Indigo J-05 stiffened. "And before you ask, no. She isn't the same. No one would be after such an ordeal. You certainly are not."

"What happened to her?" Indigo J-05 demanded. "She was down. Stunned or something." Rachel shook her head and Indigo J-05 stiffened even further. "Tell me."

"She was being enthralled by Sentient nanites." Rachel said quietly. "We stopped it, but not before her mind was overwritten."

"Over-" Indigo J-05 gasped as the full horror of that word slammed into her. "NO!"

"I am sorry." Rachel sounded truly sorrowful. "Tenno are older than Orokin. Our primary focus has always been to protect humans and when we fail... it hurts."

"She was..." Indigo J-05 swallowed hard and rage swiftly followed her fear. "She was going to find a mate! She had a male in mind! She was looking forward to children! You-" She broke off as Rachel waved a hand her way. "What?"

"Be angry, Indigo J-05. Be as angry as _we_ are." Rachel's tone was odd, both soft and thunderous at the same time. "Her body lives and her mind has been remade. She is not the same woman. She was dead the moment she fell to their control. I do not think Sentients understand the concept of 'mercy', but in as far as it goes, she felt no pain. She simply fell unconscious and woke up someone new. None of that is your fault." Rachel said severly even as Indigo J-05 opened her mouth.

For a long moment, the huamn stared at the non-human and then Indigo J-05 slumped a bit, her ire fading.

"What will happen to her?" The human's voice was very quiet, but Rachel had no trouble understanding her.

"That is under discussion." Rachel sat in the chair, consciously placing herself at the same height as Indigo J-5. A means of helping the woman remain calm. It worked. "No matter what, she will not be abandoned. She has been vetted by the absolute best. She is clean of Sentient traps and tricks. She will be given a new life. Hopefully, she will live out her life and never endure such an ordeal again."

"Thank you." Indigo J-05 said softly. "She was a good friend." She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly before speaking again. "And me?"

"We need to know how you did what you did." Rachel was just as quiet, but her tone was also hard as iron. "There have been and will be many who demand your execution." Indigo J-05 stiffened, but Rachel wasn't done. "They can go stuff themselves."

"Are you going to get in trouble for this?" Indigo J-05 asked, but was not expecting Rachel to scoff. "What?"

"Infigo J-05, here, I am in charge." Rachel shrugged. "If anyone from outside decides to try and order me to do _anything_ , I can tell them to go fuck themselves." She shook her head. "Although I will probably be a bit more polite about it." Indigo J-05 goggled at the Tenno and Rachel nodded to her. "Your food is getting cold."

Indigo J-06 jerked and then slowly swung her legs from the bed. She was a bit wobbly as she stood but stayed on her feet as Rachel rose form her chair to stand by the door again. The Educator sat down a bit more heavily than she intended and reached for the food, only to pause, staring at it. Then she turned to Rachel.

"You borrowed more than my psyche profile." Indigo J-05 said quietly as she reached for the rolled up flatbread filled with savory things that was her favorite morning food. She did not take her eyes from the Tenno even as she picked the warm roll up and took a small, hesitant bite. It tasted heavenly, just as good as she remembered badgering the Corpus mess hall staff into making for her for an experiment. Said experiment had run its course, but she had learned to make them for herself and received permission to do just that. She had cited her own morale and welfare and had been given Corporate dispensation to deviate from company norms, but only for that and only for one meal. It helped that the meal was half the price of a standard Corpus breakfast.

"You were interrogated." Rachel replied calmly. "They got everything." Indigo J-05 went still, a bite half chewed and Rachel shook her head again. "Go on, eat. You need the nutrients. You have been through an ordeal and you will need your strength."

"If I have already been interrogated, then why keep me?" Indigo J-05 said after she swallowed her bite.

"Two reasons." Rachel had a smile in her voice was Indigo J-05 continued to eat. "One, this is the safest place for you at the moment. You are here under my personal protection and no one will try to kill you while you are here."

"Tenno would kill me for what I did." Indigo J-05 felt her hunger flee, but she continued to chew.

"And others would dissect you to try and figure out how you did it." Rachel agreed. "The Corpus, the Grineer, others. Anyone who can control a warframe at all would be a powerful weapon."

"But the others said the Tenno in the warframe was dead." Indigo J-05 wasn't sure how she felt about that, honestly. "I didn't think your kind could die."

"Everything that lives dies, Indigo J-05." Rachel replied without heat. " _We_ cannot figure out how you did what you did, so it is highly unlikely anyone else can. But that wouldn't stop them from pulling you apart molecule by molecule while you are awake to try and discover what you did and how." Indigo J-05 shivered at the cold, matter of fact tone.

Indigo J-05 finished her flatbread and smiled a little forlornly as she swallowed it. "I assume that this is to be my prison then?" She stared around the small room and shivered again.

"By some definitions, yes." Rachel's tone was calm, but held anticipation. "But by others? No."

"The... other I talked to said the Company wrote me off." The human said after a moment's thought. Rachel nodded and Indigo J-05 slumped a bit. "So even if, by some miracle, I do escape, then if I go back..."

"If you are lucky, you get mindwiped again and then put to work as a drone." Rachel nodded as Indigo J-05 went still. "Yes. You were. You had questions about your past."

"I couldn't ask the questions." Indigo J-05 said weakly. "Everything I said or did was monitored."

"I know." Rachel moved to stand beside the human and her hand came down to take the human's. "We don't know why either. It wasn't in your memories, obviously. The Lotus is investigating. In her free time."

"The Lotus?" Indigo J-05 said weakly.

"Yes." Rachel had a smile in her voice now. "Whatever some may think of her, she is a defender of humanity. She fought the Sentients, guided the Tenno to fight them. You are a potential threat, but a definite target. She can be incredibly pragmatic, but she isn't without a heart. If that were the case, there wouldn't _be_ any humans or Tenno left alive."

"She seemed...distant. Cold." Indigo J-05 shivered in memory and then she couldn't stop shaking. "What?" She managed through chattering teeth.

"Oh dear. You have pushed too far." Rachel shifted her grip and effortlessly lifted Indigo J-95's quivering form into her arms. The human wanted to protest, but she was too weak. "It is all right, Indigo J-05. I won't let anyone hurt you. We need you."

Those impossible words had Indigo J-05 reeling even as Rachel deposited her back on the bed. The Tenno was gentle and solicitous as she straightened the shivering human's arms and leg and then pulled a blanket out of somewhere to drape over her.

"I am going to get the doc." Rachel said after a moment of checking Indigo J-05's vitals. "It is probably just delayed reaction, but we need to be sure. The last thing we need is for _you_ to get infected."

"Infected?" Indigo J-05 said weakly as she fought to stay awake.

"Tenno were born from the Technocyte Virus, Indigo J-05." Rachel reached own and stroked Indigo J-05's hand gently where it lay on the blanket. "But that was a million to one chance, the first time anyway. The odds of you surviving if you are infected by that are slim to say the least. There are cures now, but in your weakened state, you would not survive."

"Maybe... for the... best?" Indigo J-05 gasped out past her chattering teeth.

"Don't say that." Rachel rebuked her. "A wise human once said 'Where there is life, there is hope'. We have worked hard to keep hope alive here, Indigo J-05. We need you. Don't you dare give up."

"Why do... you need... _me_?" Indigo J-05 managed. She went still as a hologram appeared beside Rachel. The human...wasn't one. His hair was dark and his eyes were a deep brown. His right arm was not flesh. Instead, ir was covered in a dark metal of some kind. Why was he so familiar?

"Do you know what you found?" The hologram asked. Rachel bowed to him. "Stop that." He snapped at her and Rachel shrugged as she stood up straight again. The door hissed open and a warframe entered, but Indigo J-05 only had eyes for the hologram. Something about him... She never saw the Volt warframe kneel beside her bed and start doing things.

"Found?" Indigo J-05 was falling into those dark eyes. "I don't..." She gasped as pain flared, but then it vanished.

"You sent a report to your masters." The dark haired man said quietly. "A report about a record you found that was pre-Orokin. A record you partially deciphered. We believe that is why the Sentients came after you. We do know that is why the Lotus sent a team to extract you."

"I couldn't read it." Indigo J-05 said weakly. "Only bits and pieces."

"You did incredibly well for never having seen that dialect of English before." The dark haired man smiled at her and Indigo J-05 felt a bit of relief. It faded at his next words. "It was an intelligence report by a spy agency. They made cryptic an art form to keep enemies from reading their mail."

"So, no one will ever be able to understand it." Indigo J-05 slumped and then felt every ounce of energy leave her. "I am falling asleep."

"You need it." The dark haired man said kindly. "But I will tell you one thing. Rachel's other reason for bringing you here?" Rachel nodded to him and he smiled at her. "One word on the document that you almost translated right."

" _Almost?_ " Indigo J-05 whined in wounded pride.

"It is not your fault that no one remembers that language now but Tenno, Indigo J-05." The holographic being was still kind "You translated it as 'Secure place of rest'. Very close indeed."

"What was it?" Indigo J-05 asked, on the edge of sleep. "If you can tell me."

"We can." The odd man replied even as the Volt beside her started doing things. "The original word was 'Citadel'. It means 'fortress'." Indigo J-05 looked confused and the man shook his head. "'The Citadel' was built pre-Orokin. It was a refuge for Tenno prior to the founding of the Empire."

"And?" Indigo J-05 was losing her fight to stay awake.

"And welcome to the Citadel, Indigo J-05." Rachel said as darkness claimed the human.

* * *

"Does Nikis know you are here?" Rachel demanded as Indigo J-05 finally fell into a deep, untroubled sleep. Roger would make sure she stayed that way long enough to rest.

"He called me." Hayden Tenno said softly, his eyes on the human. "Rachel... Even with all the safeguards, she cannot stay here. She will get infected."

"Anywhere else she goes, she will be a target, First One." Rachel said flatly. "She deserves better."

"Rachel..." Hayden Tenno groaned. "You know who you have to talk to then. They don't like people calling."

"No." Rachel agreed. "However, the Caretakes of the Unclean are used to oddities in dealing with the Technocyte Virus."

" _You_ get to explain that to Jasmina." The shade of the First Tenno vanished and Rachel sighed.

" _Joy_."


	7. Chapter 7

**Issues of Trust**

"You want us to do _what?_ "

Rachel had been prepared for this meeting to be difficult. Tenno Jasmina had often been described as the 'quintessential hothead'. Ironic that her bonding to an Ember warframe merely added to her firey disposition. Or maybe the meshing of Tenno and warframe was indeed some deity's sick joke as some had said over the long centuries. Indeed, Jasmina was fiery and her mate was magnetic so maybe that held a bit of truth.

"Right now?" Rachel picked her words with care. This meeting was face to face and she felt keenly vulnerable outside of her warframe. Even with the massive defenses that the Citadel boasted, if Jasmina decided that Rachel needed to die, Rachel would. Period. "We need you to make sure she is not infected. We would ask if you have means of keeping her that way. This place..." She shook her head. "We tried to eradicate the Virus from it, but after so many millennia of Tenno residing here, there is no way to eradicate it completely. She will likely have to stay for far longer than any other human guest has and..." She trailed off as Jasmina grunted.

"This is a place for Tenno." Jasmina did not take her gaze from the leader of the remaining First, but the other Caretaker with her was staring around in wonder. Elenia had never been to the Citadel before. "Why do you have a _human_ here?"

"Jasmina." Elena's gaze snapped back to her mate and her tone held reproof. "She asked out presence. She did not demand it even though she could have as Leader of the First."

"Could I?" Rachel asked softly. "Your duty takes you outside of our circles of influence. There are many who say you are true independents. And even if I _could_ order such? Why _would_ I when I can be polite? _I_ am not a human."

The Ember Prime warframe stared at her for a long moment and then nodded once.

"Point taken." Jasmina said with a sigh. "I apologize, Tenno Rachel. This week has not been fun."

"Not necessary, but accepted." Rachel frowned a little. "What is happening? We have been shut off for so long that isolation seems the way to act. Even when we know it causes more problems than it solves." Neither Caretaker spoke and she sighed. "If it is your business..."

"Karl's Shadow is under investigation." Elenia said very softly and Rachel froze. "Investigation as to whether or not they have spread a Technocyte infestation."

" _What?_ " Rachel demanded. "Who the hell would even _think_ _**those**_ Tenno of _all_ Tenno would do such a thing?"

"We don't know." Elenia said sadly. "The clan won't talk to us for fear of leading the investigators to us. We received that word and then nothing."

"If this is another political ploy by Eldar Hans..." Rachel started only to pause as Jasmina held up a hand. "Caretaker?"

"Elder Hans is not involved." Jasmina was calmer, a little. "He holds his beliefs honestly even if he does run on at the mouth far more than most think an Elder should. We received a message from Iriana stating that all communication with the clan would cease and any further attempts should be considered suspect until and unless Iriana herself sends it and it can be proven she is the one doing it. Since then, we have been cautiously trying to get more information. So far, we have found out nothing except the fact that Larunda Relay was contaminated with the virus and Karl's Shadow were implicated."

"That is _insane!_ " Rachel snapped. "The only people I know of who are _more_ fervent than that clan about protecting from the virus are you Caretakers."

"I know." Jasmina seemed to wilt a little. "But if we get involved, it will only make matters worse."

"I... yes." Rachel said, manifestly against her will. "Every hothead and lunatic will have the chance to point fingers at you. Not that they don't already but still..." She shook her head. "This isn't good."

"No." Jasmina allowed. "We have been hearing odd murmurs from Infested recently. They don't make any sense. Less so than normal." She qualified when Rachel looked at her.

"Two words that are clear." Elenia sounded worried and Rachel could relate. "'Demon' and 'Master'."

"'Master'." Rachel hissed. "Not the _Ancient Enemy_?" She begged. "It has only been _two years_!"

"It doesn't have the same feel." Jasmina reassured the unarmored Tenno. "And there has been no call. From what I have gathered... The Phoenix would call me again. I match all the criteria."

" _Over my dead body!_ " Elenia snapped. The others looked at her and the Mag warframe seemed to bristle. "No. I will not let you do that, Jasmina!"

The Phoenix was an ancient weapon. A relic of incredible power intended to defeat one of the Tenno's worst enemies. An immortal essence of Technocyte that gathered itself every few centuries to attempt to subsume or destroy humanity. The Tenno weapon called 'Phoenix' had always been successful in defeating the Ancient Enemy,but the cost was always dear. The life of a female Tenno was the price and it had just recently been paid again. It had only been dumb luck that Jasmina had not been there to pick up the burden first and Elenia had not forgiven her mate for that apparently.

"Elenia." Jasmina's tone made it quite clear that this was an old and heated argument. "I am Tenno. You are not the only Caretaker anymore. Please, let us not start that argument here and now. It is not that. Not yet."

Something in her tone though... Rachel hadn't planned on saying this now, but if now was the time, then now was the time.

"Caretaker Jasmina." Rachel said formally. "You have paid enough. There are many others who could be called, myself included." Jasmina and Elenia both jerked to stare at Rachel and she continued. "Do not borrow trouble. You say there is no call, then it is unlikely to be the Ancient Enemy. Thank goodness." She held out a hand to Jasmina who stared at it. "Sister, you have paid enough."

"You do not understand..." Jasmina recoiled, but Elenia held her in place. Smaller the Mag warframe might be, but she was Tenno.

"Yes, I do." Rachel said with a sigh. "You see, we hosted Michelle here awhile back. She wanted to do a pilgrimage and no one would deny her. Even if she is human now and cannot use a warframe anymore, she has all the give of a _rock_. She brought a copy of their most recent archives. I know what happened when the Empress brought you and your mate into her presence. I know Dust died as a result of her orders. I know what you said there and I know it has been corroborated. None of what happened was your fault."

"I did it." Jasmina was struggling halfheartedly in Elenia's grip as Rachel reached for her. "I let the Infested loose from the quarantine. I locked up the Caretakers and _I did it!_ " She screamed as Rachel touched her faceplate. " _All those lives lost_ -" She broke off with a gasp as her faceplate opened.

That shouldn't have been possible, but then again, Rachel _was_ the Leader of the First. She had more than a few tricks up her sleeves.

"Are the burden of the _Emperor_ , who _paid_ for his crimes." Rachel stroke the tear lined cheek that was visible now. "I say this now as Leader of the First. Tenno Jasmina..." Jasmina collapsed and only Elenia's grip on her arm let her kneel with any semblance of grace. Rachel laid her hand on the sobbing Tenno's head, ignoring the burning from the crest of fire. This needed to be done. "What happened was horrible. Desperate times call for desperate measures, but you are not responsible for orders you were given. For orders you carried out that turned the tide of the war." Jasmina was shaking her head, but Rachel wasn't done. "So say the First."

She withdrew her hand and shook it. It was reddened by the energy discharges, but Tenno were nothing if not adaptable and energy was energy.

"I burned you." Jasmina was still crying.

"Oh, Jasmina." Rachel knelt down and hugged the Ember Prime warframe tight. "Do you think I care about some _skin_? My sister was and is in _pain_. It wasn't your fault."

" _I could have disobeyed!_ " Jasmina all but screamed as Elenia joined the embrace. "I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway!"

"The past is the past, Tenno Jasmina." Rachel said quietly. "I know about following bad orders. We were manipulated into isolation, allowing the Ancient Enemy to spread its rot. If not for Master Richard's sacrifice..." She slumped a bit. "Letting the Infested our of quarantine wasn't your fault any more than pressing for isolation so hard was mine. I find it very hard to forgive myself for that, now. But I must. We go on. It is all we can do."

Rachel's eyes met Elenia's closed faceplate over Jasmina's bowed head and the Mag nodded slightly.

"I say this now, to you and yours. To _all_ of yours." Rachel said quietly. "If you have need, call." Jasmina went totally still and Rachel continued. "I know not what burden you Caretakers suffer under, except what Michelle told me. Frankly? I care not. You and Elenia and Mishka are my sisters. Sisters who have a horrible job. Sisters who are more alone than I am."

"You don't-" Jasmina choked off and snarled half heartedly. "No! I won't subject-! No!" She wasn't talking to anyone present. Rachel knew the armored Tenno was linked to a mind mass of sentient Infested so it took no imagination to know who was speaking to Jasmina.

"We can choose our friends, sister Jasmina." Rachel said quietly. "We cannot choose our family and no matter your burdens, you Caretakers _are_ family. Never forget that." Jasmina wilted further and she was crying harder. Rachel just held her as she sobbed.

"You do us far too much honor, Tenno Rachel." Elenia said after a moment. "We are... I don't know what to say. We are not the First."

"You are also not outcast. You are not renegade. Anyone who says you are will answer to _me_." Rachel replied, extending a hand that Elenia took. "I cannot say I am comfortable with what I have heard you do or why but I refuse to drive family away when I have a choice about it."

"Thank you. It is hard." Elenia's voice was small and lost. Rachel shook her head and pulled her back into the shared embrace. Jasmina jerked and then laid her own arms around the pair.

"If you need a place to stay, a lab facility that won't talk about what is done or just a friendly ear, we are here." Rachel said savagely. "We have so few left and none of us are getting any younger. We need more Tenno here but we cannot let just anyone in. You and yours have proven trustworthy. You will always be welcome."

Jasmina heaved a long, deep sigh and then relaxed, her tears stopping. She hugged Rachel and Elenia once more and then let go. The others let her go and rose with her.

"I don't know what to say." Jasmina said softly. "Fighting is all I have really ever been good at."

"Fighting and perhaps dying is not hard for Tenno." Rachel mused. "Living? That is hard. With all the regrets. The fears. The only way you get good at anything, sister, is to practice."

"Yes." Jasmina wasn't looking at Rachel, her eeys were far away. "Yes, you are right." Her eyes focused on Rachel and she smiled a little forlornly. "It has been so long since we could trust anyone and then Ona's mess."

"Yeah." Rachel's tone was more than a bit sour, but neither of the others blamed her for it. "And they came back here after. To my shame, I cannot forgive them. She lied to me, to us and nearly cost Jesse her life." All three female Tenno shuddered as one. That had been far too close.

"Anger is all I am." Jasmina said sadly. "All I have been for a long, long time. I don't know how to be anything else."

"No one is _asking_ you to be anything else." Rachel reassured her. "We want to get more Tenno here. We want to aid sisters who need it. And we want to figure out how this human took control of a warframe."

"What?" Elenia and Jasmina chorused.

"I know." Rachel said quietly. "It shouldn't be possible. As near as we can figure, sister Helga's energy was in the process of being pulled out by a Sentient when it was interrupted, terminally, by Cyberlancer Olim." Both of the others shuddered and Rachel joined it. A bad way to go and irreversible. "So, when this human, Indigo J-05 woke inside, she took control somehow."

"You are right." Jasmina swallowed hard. "That isn't possible. But you say it happened?"

"Tenno came from humans, so there may be a genetic twist or mutation that allowed it." Rachel elaborated. "She has been restrained since her ability to manipulate energy forms apparently did not vanish when she left the warframe."

"You are kidding." Jasmina's face inside her open faceplate was pale. "Oh, the Eldars are just going to _love_..." She broke off suddenly and stared at Rachel. "You didn't..."

"I have no idea what you might be talking about." Butter might not have melted in Rachel's mouth. Jasmina stared at her and then barked a laugh.

"They won't like you offering her shelter one little bit, will they?" Jasmina was grinning now. It had a feral tinge.

"The Elders have demanded her death. I told them to go pound sand." Rachel said with a matching grin. Jasmina laughed and then nodded. "We need to know what she did and how. But dissecting her won't work."

"You are going to test her." Elenia said suddenly and Rachel nodded. "On who?"

"Me." Rachel replied and both other Tenno stiffened in instant rebellion. "She and I have developed a bit of a rapport. She is smart, capable and kind hearted, if programmed to be anything but by the Corpus. She is a teacher, not a warrior but she will fight if need be. I like her and I want to help her."

"This is going to go over like a _Sand Skate_ trying to _swim_." Jasmina retorted sourly. "She jerked and then sighed. She looked at Elenia who waved for her to speak. "Wimp."

"I am simply following hierarchy protocol." Elenia put out in an decidedly prim and proper tone, at least until Jasmina poked her in the side. "Hey!"

"Okay, silly goose." Jasmina had a decidely evil smile on her face now. "Then according to hierarchy, _you_ are delegated to act as liaison to the Citadel."

"What? No!" Elenia was shaking her head, but Rachel shrugged and turned to her. "I will get you for this, Jasmina."

"I tremble with anticipation." Jasmina smirked as Elenia made a rude gesture at her. "Go on, tell her."

"Tenno Rachel." Elenia said formally. "The Caretakers of the Unclean feel unworthy of what you have offered. We have been alone so long. Too long perhaps. We have each other and a group of helpers, but we have had to maintain absolute secrecy. We can help this human, protect her from the virus, but it will not be easy."

"Last I checked, easy was not for Tenno." Rachel said with a grin that had the others chuckling. "We demand nothing of you. We are offering."

"The mass mind says that Ona and her kin have done far more research into the virus than anyone else." Elenia said after a moment. Both Jasmina and Rachel shook their heads emphatically. "Both of you feel betrayed, with reason. They did betray your trust. But they did try to fix it and did help save Jesse in the process."

"We cannot trust them." Rachel paused and then slumped a bit. " _I_ cannot trust them."

"Trust must be earned." Elenia said with a shrug. "And once it has been abused, it is far harder to reestablish. For now, you asked us here to help and have offered in return more than any of us dared dream. We may take you upon this, but this human needs help?" She inquired.

"At the moment, all she truly needs is rest." Rachel made a face at the change of subject, but did not quibble. She knew she wasn't entirely rational about Ona and the facts of what had been done so long ago. Just the thought of Senitnet technology, even subverted to serve Tenno exclusively, hidden inside the Citadel made her flesh crawl to this day. "She should be waking shortly. Would you like to meet with her?"

"I think that would be for the best." Elenia said after a moment. Jasmina looked at her and the Mag shook her head. "We can offer a protection that works against the virus, but getting her to the fabrication process will be difficult."

"Is this the fabrication process that Iriana went through after her injuries?" Rachel inquired carefully. The Caretakers looked at her and Rachel frowned. "She never said anything, but she did come here and was run through our scanners. Especially after her..." She paused and shook her head. "She doesn't remember being revived. Nikis was fairly urgent, and I don't know if you knew how bad it was." Jasmina and Elenia both nodded. "Fair enough. The material that covered the Healer was fairly distinct."

"How so?" Elenia asked.

"It can alter size and shape. It provides protection from physical injuries and from the Technocyte have seen such material before." Rachel said quietly and both Caretakers froze. Rachel nodded. "It is not quite a warframe, but similar."

"Where did you see it?" Jasmina asked, all business.

"In some of the first records left by Trinity about Nyx." Rachel said quietly.

"The very first _true_ warframe was made of similar materials."


	8. Chapter 8

**Research**

"I don't think this is such a good idea."

The words were calm and clear, but worry sounded from the tone of the human anyway. Indigo J-05 was set in a comfortable chair, but that was the only thing comfortable about her. She wore a bodysuit that was literally covered with various sensors and her head was encased in a transparent bubble instead of a more normal face covering. More tech clustered around her neck and the back of her head inside it, but none of it was uncomfortable. She didn't need it to be. She was far less comfortable with that than anyone else was.

The room was bare except for another chair in which Rachel said, her hands folded in her lap. She nodded to Indigo J-05 and then turned to scrutinize the wall. Or what Indigo J-05 assumed was a two way mirror. She nodded to the wall and then turned back to eye the human who flinched from the Tenno's regard. She knew others were watching, both behind the mirror and on scanners. She preayed she didn't do anything that would cause them to react badly. She wouldn't survive such.

When she had woken from her rest, Indigo J-05 had felt much better. She still felt off, but she wasn't nearly as weak. A good meal and she had been ready to face her day. Or, she had assumed she was. She wasn't ready for this!

"We have been over this." Rachel's tone was mild, but Indigo J-05 winced anyway. "We need to figure out how you did what you did. You cannot hurt me here and you cannot hold me for long either."

"I don't want to do this." The human tried not to whine.

"I know. That is why I am letting you do it here and now" Rachel did not move, simply waited. Indigo J-05 took a deep breath, then another. Then she slowly nodded.

"You have been kinder to me than any Corpus would have been." Indigo J-05 said slowly. "But this? This is wrong. It seems like a violation."

"It is not a violation if I give you permission to do it. Which I have." Rachel repeated for about the third time. "We need to see what you do and how. You cannot hurt me, Indigo J-05."

Indigo J-05 slumped a bit and then Rachel stiffened as energy flared around the human's head covering. Rachel went totally still and then she nodded slowly.

"You can do it." She reassured the human, who would not meet her eyes. "Come on, girl. Leave me able to talk, but make me walk."

"It... feels..." Indigo J-05 whimpered a little as Rachel's body rose and took a step.

"What do you feel?" Rachel's voice was slow and hypnotic. The calm sootheed Indigo J-05 and the human relaxed just a little.

"You are not human." Indigo J-05 said in a monotone. "You feel wrong. But right." Rachel took another step and the human shook her head savagely. "No. NO! This is _wrong!_ " She recoiled right back out of her chair and Rachel stumbled a little as the energy faded around the human's head. Indigo J-05 slid to the floor and scuttled back until she was against the wall as far away from Rachel and the mirror as she could get. "Stop me!"

"Indigo J-05, you are not doing anything." Rachel was confused.

"Yes, I _am!_ " Indigo J-05 warned. "But I don't know _what_! The power is still flowly, but I don't know to _where_!" She stiffened as the feelings changed to something far different. "I can feel... No! No! Stop me!"

"Roger!" Rachel snapped and the human tensed as the blue enrgy crackled around her helmet and then the metal circle on the back of her head started glowing again. She slumped in relief.

"I don't know what I was doing." Indigo J-05 sobbed. "I couldn't feel anyone like you, but they were watching. They saw me and they were scared of me. I don't want to scare people!"

"'They'?" Rachel strode to where Indigo J-05 was cowering and sat down beside her. 'Who is 'they'?"

"'They' is us." Another voice sounded an Indigo J-05 whimpered a little. She had met the Tenno named Jasmina and the other Tenno _terrified_ her for no reason that the human could define consciously. "She felt us. She didn't control us, but I bet she could control Infested. Feral ones anyway."

"No!" Indigo J-05 huddled againstteh wall, hugging her knees to her body. "No! I don't want this! Take it away! Make me forget like Marian R-23! Do _something_!"

"Indigo J-05, be calm." Rachel said sternly as she touched the distraught woman's sleeve. One of the pieces of equipment attached to her suit that Indigo J-5 highly approved of was a sedative dispenser. Not enough to put her to sleep, but enough to calm her down. "I know this is distressing, but we need to know. Why does Jasmina scare you so badly?"

"I don't know." Indigo J-05 said through the mild haze that soothed her fear. "I... I need to say this now, while the thoughts are fresh. Observations are as follows: The energy does not require direct contact. I can feel you and her and two others. But there is no connection to any but you. It may require line of sight. It felt..." She pasued and then slumped a bit. "It felt right to touch you that way. But it isn't."

"Forget that for now." Rachel commanded. "What does it feel like? Could you feel me?"

"It felt..." Indigo J-05 thought hard for a moment and then shook her head. "It felt like your body was part of mine. I felt your arms and legs as my own. Which makes no _sense!_ " She complained.

"Forget that for now." Rachel took hold of Indigo J-05's arm and guided to woman to her feet. "We need to do it again." Indigo J-05 was shaking her head, but Rachel was firm. "We need a solid core of data to have any hope of defining how you do this. Which means?" She queried.

"More than one experiment." Indigo J-05 did not resist as Rachel led her back to her chair. "Rachel, it feels right, but so wrong at the same time."

"I am sorry, Indigo J-05." Rachel said heavily as she helped the woman sit. "We need more." Indigo J-05 tried to wipe the tears off her face, but the transparent helmet blocked them.

"I feel... _dirty_."

* * *

The observation room wasn't small, but it felt cramped. Jasmina, Roger and one other stood in the room, watching as Rachel took her seat again and prodded Indigo J-05 to take control again.

"She is not taking this well."

Jamsina did not react to the voice. Indeed, she ignored the small form that had spoken as she had since Suno had come in. The Volt warframe at the console nodded to the miniature Trinity warframe but did not speak. The tiny Tenno shook her head.

"Is your ire worth _her_ life, Caretaker?" The small one demanded. Jasmina did not react and the other sighed. "Yes, we screwed up. We editted the truth. We did not speak some things, but we did not lie to you."

"You took a human and turned him into a machine." Jasmina's tone was ice cold. The minature Trinity nodded. "You tore his mind out of his body and turned him into a slave."

"Yes, we did. Well, technically, we shifted his servitude from the Sentients to the Tenno." Suno said sadly. "It was wrong. We have not denied that. We have not tried to shirk our punishment. We are not enemies, Caretaker."

"I cannot trust you." Jasmina said flatly.

"I am not asking you to." Suno replied without heat. "What I am saying is that _she_..." She waved to where Indigo J-05 was crying as she did what Rachel asked and made the unarmored Tenno walk some more. "...is reacting far more strongly to taking control of Rachel than you would think a Corpus would. They take control of everything, no? Crewmen, robotics, economics, politics? It is all the same to them. But not _her_. It is hurting her psychologically to do this."

Jasmina stared out the mirror to where Indigo J-05 was crying. She shuddered for a moment and then seemed to relax.

"Her readings are getting into the danger zone for humans." Roger said into the silence that fell. "Brain activity is spiking, heart rate is very high, blood pressure is climbing. We need to call this off before she has a seizure or stroke." He hit the intercom. "Rachel? Indigo J-05 needs a break."

The odd trio watched as Indigo J-05 slumped in relief and the energy that they could scan while she wore her helmet vanished. Rachel relaxed from where she had been walking and moved to Indigo J-05's chair, comforting the sobbing woman with both words and touch.

"She doesn't want to do it." Suno said for all of them even as Jasmina watched the scene like a hawk. "Caretaker, she doesn't want to do it."

"I have to say she is right." Roger said calmly from where he was perusing his consoles. "She wasn't faking that reaction. She really thinks of it as a violation."

"Which it _is_." Jasmina snapped.

"Jasmina." Roger shook his head. "Rachel gave her permission to do it _this one time_ in a _controlled setting_. We need to know what she does and how. It seems to be very similar to how Tenno control warframes, which should not be possible. She is not Tenno. She cannot be Tenno, not now."

"No." Suno agreed. "If she tried, the Trial would kill her. She couldn't handle the feedback." The other two looked at her and she shrugged. "Trials have happened a lot recently. Tiana, Jesse. Janna. If I didn't know better, I would say someone was pushing that clan to make more Tenno. But that would be insane and counter productive for any of the enemies I know of."

"I..." Jasmina shook her head savagely and then turned to scrutinize the small Trinity. "I am not going to like or trust you." She said to Suno who nodded.

"No one is asking you to." Suno replied, not hurt at all by the Ember Prime's antagonism. "We will remain here, in exile. We lost whatever good will we might have engendered despite our being different. But here, we can still do good."

Jasmina grunted and turned back to the mirror, signaling an end to her talkative period. Suno looked at Roger who shrugged. The diminuitive warframe shook her head and spoke again.

"She is reacting very badly to taking control." Suno mused. "Did we get anything from the records search?"

"Not yet." Roger grunted. "The teams are still out."

"I expected Karl to be here." Jasmina said quietly. Both Suno and Roger shook their heads and she grimaced under her helmet. "Oh. He went, didn't he?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Europa

It wasn't a battle. Tenno versus Corpus when the Corpus were not prepared for them was rarely anything more than a slaughter. Tenno were weapons, ancient and incredibly powerful organic weapons even discounting the warframes that they embodied. Case in point-

Karl crunched into a small group of Crewmen who had been trying to set up a defensive line. There were not enough of them though. To have any chance of disabling even the least protected Tenno, they had to have several weapons hitting said Tenno at the same time. Problem was that shooting at Tenno tended to draw their attention with predictable results.

Kalr wasn't entirely happy with the Orthos Prime that had been gifted didn't quite fit his hands like his old one had. Then again, _that_ one had been composed solely of energy, just as _he_ had been from the moment he remembered. Everyone said he had used this one before,but he didn't feel it was right. Tenno were energy forms inhabiting meat bodies that inhabited organic bio armor, but they still felt things like thier distant ancestors had. Karl still felt uneasy even as he did what Tenno had been made to do.

The other three in his cell held their own position as Karl's Orthos blades flew and pieces of Corpus grunts went flying every which way. They had no chance against him and he didn't feel anything for them. He had been told over and over that the being he had been before defined honorable and fair, but he himself couldn't feel such. He didn't feel much of anything. He felt a twinge when others talked to him, perhaps the vestiges of feelings that...

 _Stop that!_ A firm voice commanded in his head. _Focus on the now. On the battle._

 _Yes, Swallow._ Karl replied as he charged into a new line of Corpus, these including proxies and other Crewmen. He needed the others help sometimes and while it grated, Swallow was Tenno as well, and understood.

They were doing their job, drawing the Corpus' attention away from another operative who was searching for something. Karl wasn't sure if this had anything to do with the human sequestered in the Citadel or not. It wasn't his place to question such things. He had a mission and he would accomplish it.

The battle had been raging for over twenty minutes now and the Corpus were sending heavier and heavier units into the fray. They didn't have any of their specialized assault mechs, but for such a fight, such advanced proxies would be counter productiv. Tenno were incredibly mobile, easily capable of outflanking and eliminating almost any of the Corpus robotics. Only the massive Razorback proxies provided any serious challenge to a well equipped Tenno strike team who knew their enemy but even they could be defeated with teamwork.

That said, any battle was a chaotic mess of move and countermove, of movement, assault and evasion. Battle was never going to be anything but incredibly dangerous. The Corpus thought nothing of throwing away crewmen in droves for the chance to disable a warframe. Even with Alad V's madness somewhat forgotten, the Corpus still tried again and again to neutralize the Tenno. Fat chance of that. The Orokin hadn't been able to, so there was very little possibility the Corpus could. But that didn't mean the threat could be discounted. Oh no.

That was the reason that the Elders had demanded the human woman's death. Rachel had ignored that command as was her right. She wasn't under their authority and no one sane was going to try and reach the woman with nefarious intentions. The First protected themselves.

 _Down!_ A warning came and Karl did not hesitate. He threw himself to the floor on a slide and a torrent of energy bolts flew over him. The Corpus Tech tried to correct his aim, but one of Karl's teammates sent a burst of bolter projectiles into the human who screamed and fell, clutching at the holes that had been pucnehd completely through his armor as if it hadn't even been there.

 _Time._ Karl called and the other three of his cell nodded. They took to their heels and ran.

The Corpus ship was eerily familiar while at the same time being almost toally alien. He knew the corridors well, even if he did not remember them. His hand came up as if on it's own and his Vaykor Marelok blew a hole in a security camera that he had barely registered. He didn't consciously remember fighting on Corpus ships, but his subconscious apparently did. It freaked him out more than a little, the things he didn't remember, but did.

Karl ran with his team all the way to the extraction site and waited until all three of the others had entered their ships before doing the same It simply felt right to do that. He wasn't a leader of anything now, just another Tenno. But no one would treat him that way. It felt wrong to be held up as an example for something he didn't remember.

Everything was both right and wrong. It was at times infuriating, at times worrying and at other times, saddening. He didn't want to hurt the members of the clan who he had apparently led before, but he didn't _know_ them now. He wasn't-

"Tenno Karl." The voice of the Lotus pulled Karl out of his reverie even as his ship boosted away from the Corpus ship.

"Lotus." The Tenno replied as he knelt in front of the navigation display. The ship's Cephalon provided a navigation interface, but thankfully did not feel the need to interject like the Ordis model did most of the time.

"You are needed on Larunda Relay." The Lotus said quietly. He stiffened. Something was wrong.

"Situation?" The Tenno asked even as he keyed controls to alter his course for Mercury.

"The Relay was recently contaminated with the Technocyte Virus." The Lotus said after a moment. Karl went totally still and the Lotus nodded slightly. "The outbreak was contained, neutralized."

"But I am needed. Even after the outbreak is eradicated?" Karl mused. "Why me?"

"There is some evidence that your former clan was involved in the outbreak." The Lotus said calmly. Karl suddenly felt anything but calm.

"Not a chance." The male Tenno said flatly. "Whatever problem I may or may not have with them, there is no way that they would do such."

"Probabilities say the same." The Lotus agreed. "But the evidence is there."

"What evidence?" Karl demanded. "What happened?"

"Several humans were infected with the virus." The Lotus said with a small frown. "The outbreak was traced to a Tenno ship that landed. The ship is Tenno Karen's Liset."

"Karen." Karl shook his head. "No. No, still not a chance. The only way they would do something like that is if they were ordered and no one would order such." He went still as the Lotus just looked at him. "Would they?"

He was privy to some of the secrets that the clan he had once led held secure. Not all, and for that, he was devoutly grateful.

"No one ordered them to do such." The Lotus reassured him. "But it happened. Four humans were infected and if we had been any slower detecting the Infestation, we might have lost them."

Karl nodded slowly.

"So let us find out what happened and why."


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the prolonged delay. Life has been seriously unfun the last few weeks. Computer problems, family problems, money problems, car problems... Gah! Back for now. Hope that lasts.**

* * *

 **Family Difficulties**

Karl strode from his ship into Larunda Relay ready for anything and was only mildly disappointed when nothing happened. His Braton, Lato and Ether Sword were holstered, but his hands were ready to take hold of any of them if needed. He didn't feel right carrying the Prime weapons that the clan had gifted him. Not for this. His eyes narrowed under his helmet as he saw a squad of security troops milling about near the center of the landing bay. The platforms made a 'Y' shape with circles at each end of the arms and the security station was in the middle of the junction. Usually a single security troop was stationed there to provide assistance if needed or direct traffic to open landing slots. Today, almost a dozen armed forms in blue bodysuits stood ready, their weapons not lowered as he eyed them.

"I was told to come here." Karl declared as he strode to stand in front of them. He did not react as they all stared at him, more than one with open suspicion on their faces. "My name is Karl."

"You." One of the guards, a woman, almost spit the word. "You caused this!" Her visible face was contorted. With fear or anger? Hard to say.

"Caused what?" Karl replied without heat. "I wasn't here."

"Your clan did this!"The woman exclaimed, her Boar rising into firing position.

"You fire that and you are going to regret it." Karl did not move, did not grasp any of his weapons even as the other guards all stared at him. "Briefly."

"Stand down." A sharp voice snapped form nowhere and Karl relaxed just a little as the holo of a human woman in the garb of an administrator appeared nearby. The female guard did not relax her aim and the holo snarled. "I said 'Stand Down', guard Jillias. If you shoot at him, he _will_ kill you and be well within his rights. He has not broken the peace. You are _about_ to."

All of the guards moved slightly away from the angry woman even as she and Karl continued to stare at one another.

"I was told that there was an outbreak." Karl said quietly, ignoring the shotgun aimed at him. "I was told that my 'former' clan..." he heavily emphasized the word former. "...was implicated in it. I do not see how that is possible, but I want to find out what happened."

"What happened?" The female guard almost seemed to explode. "You Tenno brought the Virus here! You made a bunch of people sick."

"And here, they can be cured." Karl said with a tiny shrug. He did not move otherwise. "And just so you know… If your friend shoots me with his Sicarus, all of you will die."

Everything stopped as the guards shifted away from another who _had_ been raising a Sicarus surreptitiously.

"All of you stand down!" The holo snapped again. "Do I need to get Nikis in here to get you to obey orders? I can!" Karl paused and looked at the holo who winced a little. "Not that I want to, mind you. That Tenno has no 'off' setting."

"Not many of us do. I don't remember a lot, but I know not to irritate him." Karl gave another tiny shrug. "We are what we are. Thing is, that clan wouldn't have done this. They abide by the decree of the First Tenno. 'Tenno exist to protect humanity, not rule it or destroy it'."

"Could have fooled me." Jillias growled. She _did_ lower her shotgun.

"Things are rarely so clear cut in the real world." The holo said sourly. "He is here to help, Guard Jillais. Or should I say… _Cleaner_ Jillias." She snarled and the woman froze, her shotgun muzzle falling to the floor. "You are not going to be doing anything related to weapons for the foreseeable future and as for _you_ , Guard Harris..." She spun to glare at the one with the Sicarus who also froze under her regard. "Only an _idiot_ provokes a Tenno and only a _complete_ idiot with a _death wish_ assumes they are not aware of their surroundings at all times." She shook her head. "Get the hell off my Relay."

"What?" The man gasped.

"You very nearly got every member of your team, including Jillias who has a right to her anger, _killed!"_ If holos could spit, this one was. "You _moron_!"

Karl looked from one guard to the other, to the group of guards who seemed to want to be anywhere but where they were. The he looked at the holo and then back at Jillias who was wilting.

"Who?" Karl asked quietly. Jillias jerked and stared at him. "Who do you know who was infected?" She jerked harder and he shook his head. "Guard Jillias, I came prepared to handle an outbreak. That doesn't mean I want to. I don't remember doing it before, but I know I did. From records and the feelings that are not all gone." He reached up with a slow hand to touch the hilt of his Ether Sword with a finger. " _This_ is my responsibility. Not yours. Not hers." He nodded to the holo even as his hand fell back to his side. "I do not kill humans lightly, but if there was no option? The sword is a far kinder death that Infestation. You know this."

"No. Please." Jillias begged. "He is my son."

Karl felt as if every ounce of breath had been driven from his lungs at that. He nodded slowly and relaxed as best he could. That made sense now. Family was a powerful driving force. It always had been and it always would be.

"Guard Jillias, listen to me." Karl too a slow step forward, keeping his hands at his sides. "I am not here to make snap judgments. I am not here to cleanse or purge or anything like that. I am here to find out what happened. No more, no less. Have the medics cured him?"

"They have." The holo nodded to him, her face relaxing. "He will be in quarantine with the others for two weeks, but he is showing no signs currently. None of them are."

"Good." Karl took another step until he was standing right by Jillias who was shaking a little. "Guard Jillias… During the Old War, there wasn't _time_ to cure Infestation. The means existed for some, but there was never time to use them in the midst of battle. Ether weapons were meant to cut cleanly. To spare the afflicted pain. Now there are other means _and_ the time to use them. If he is cured, you have nothing to fear from me." He reached out slowly to touch her arm. "I am not your enemy. I am not going to kill your son."

"I..." Jillias' shotgun hung in limp hands now as she shuddered.

"Administrator." Karl retreated a step when it was clear that Jillias wasn't going to be able to reply. He did not take his awareness from the other who had been raising his pistol. "She has a right to her anger."

"I know." The holo replied. "She did nearly break the peace, but I knew it would be bad as soon as I knew you were arriving. Which was about five minutes ago." Her face turned wry.

"I ask that you reconsider her punishment." Karl said formally. Jillias hissed, but did not move. "She is honest in her anger. Unlike some." He did not look at guard Harris who hadn't moved at all, his Sicarus still half raised.

"I will consider that." The holo paused and then sighed. "I am remiss. I am Vina, Administrator of this Relay among others."

"Karl. But you knew that." The Tenno shook himself a little. "How many infected?"

"Four." Vina sighed deeply and relaxed further. "As soon as the first signs appeared, I clamped a full quarantine in place." Karl nodded in approval. "It was only the staff here in the bay. There are no other signs of infestation anywhere."

"None?" Karl paused, confused. Vina nodded, her face also concerned. "That makes no sense."

"Why?" Harris snapped. He did not raise his pistol. Three of his compatriots had their weapons half raised in his direction. "Wondering why your weapon did not work?"

"Antagonizing me is a bad idea." Karl said mildly. "I am here to figure out what happened and why. I am not affiliated with that clan now, but I was. So I am a good choice for an investigation." He shook his head. "Infestation is a disease. If there are four people infected, then the source of the disease had to be close to them. They all worked here?" He asked Jillias and Vina equally. Both nodded. "Near a Liset used by a member of the clan I was affiliated with before. Your son?" He inquired gently.

"He was so happy to help." Jillias was slumped heavily now. "To finally be able to work. I got him this job, working the bay."

"Jillias, what happened here is no one here's fault." Vina said kindly. "Infestation is a horror. None of us expected it to come from a _Tenno_ ship of all things."

"No protection technology is perfect." Karl mused. "Not even the Orokin could say that. But yes. The odds of such a thing being undetected aboard a Tenno ship are slim to say the least."

"So they knew." Harris smiled evilly. "Good."

"Harris. Get off my Relay." Vina said with a grunt. The human flipped her off and she shrugged. "Fine. Whatever. Get him off my relay and before he goes? Protocol three."

"What?" Harris creamed as three guards grabbed him. " _NO!_ " He struggled, but the three holding him had him secure even as another relieved him of his weapon and started applying restraints. "You cannot do this to me!"

"Watch me." Vina did not react as he was dragged away, cursing. Karl looked a question at her and she shrugged. "A selective mindwipe. We cannot allow anyone who leaves to remember any information which might lead an enemy to the Relays. We lost enough resources with the dummy ones. We cannot lose any more of the inhabited ones."

Karl nodded soberly. The Grineer attacks on refurbished Relays had been devastating. It had taken the clones a long time to localize the heavily stealthed space habitats but once they had found them, the results had been predictable. There was no way of the Grineer to know that most of the Relays out where were dummies, rebuilt shells holding enough power signatures and life signs emitters to appear to be fully functional and inhabited. Only one fully operational and inhabited Relay had been destroyed by Grineer Fomorians but the cost there had been high. Hundreds of humans and over a dozen Tenno had been obliterated with the Relay closest to Earth despite heroic efforts. The retribution that the Tenno enacted on the Grineer as a result was a price the Grineer were willing to pay. The Tenno and free humans were not.

"Not my problem." Karl shrugged. "Right now, we need to figure out what happened and why. I assume that clan isn't talking?"

"Do they _ever_?" Vina asked sourly.

"Too many secrets." Karl looked at Jillias who hadn't moved. "I will need a liaison."

"But… I..." Jillias stammered and then cut herself off as Vina nodded. "Ma'am?"

"You didn't actually do anything and you were honest." Vina said with a small, sad smile. "That is refreshing. If he is willing to trust you…?" Karl nodded and Vina did as well. "Then I have no arguments. This is going to be a mess no matter what."

"I assume the Tenno involved are still here." Karl inquired. Vina nodded. "I will need to speak with them. They rarely talk in front of outsiders. Too many secrets."

"Then… will I cause problems?" Jillais asked carefully.

"No." Karl reassured her. "They won't talk in public at all. They are not being rude no matter what some may think, they are being cautious. I do not remember many of the secrets. I think that is a good thing."

"I heard you lost your memory." Jillias said weakly.

"Sort of." Karl shrugged. "The truth is always far less simple and clear cut than rumor. I lost a lot of who and what I was. I have spent the last few months working to rebuild myself. I am not who I was. I can never be who I was. For now? I am who and what I am. But one thing I can reassure you, Liasion Jillias… That clan will not have infected anyone without a damn good reason. It wouldn't be honorable to do such to allies." He shook his head. "Honor can be taken too far, but if they did it? They have a reason. Add to that? No one is dead."

"Nothing can excuse such an act if they did infect us." Jillias said with a snarl worthy of an Infested.

"Don't say that." Both of them looked at Vina who scowled. "Pragmatism can also be taken too far, but in the end, the means _can_ be justified in some cases."

"Until we know what happened and why, we cannot make _any_ conclusions that will not be flawed." Karl warned. "They won't talk to you. They _might_ talk to _me_. However, only in a secure situation." He looked at Vina who nodded slowly. "Liaison Jillias can lead me to where they are if you can set up a secure area for us to converse."

Something changed and Karl stiffened as a Mantis landing craft docked nearby. It hadn't announced itself. Had it? He went even more stiff as an Atlas warframe stepped out of the revolving airlock onto the arrival grid. He didn't remember the Tenno, but the records of the clan he had been affiliated with had been clear. Officer Killian was tense. With reason. It wasn't every day that a police officer infiltrated a clan of Tenno to _arrest_ one of its members. Karl didn't remember threatening to shoot the other Tenno, but he knew he had. It had been well recorded.

"Why are you here?" Karl demanded before anyone else could speak.

"There has been a violation of the Code." Killian didn't seem perturbed at all. "I am here to find out why."

"I may not remember you, but only an _idiot_ would trust you." Karl snapped and then froze as a golden form followed Killian out of the Mantis. This one was _very_ different. Gersemi Valcyr warframes were not uncommon but this one was totally unique. Gold and white predominated on her bio-armor skin. She had been unique even before she had confessed her feelings to Karl. Er, for who he had been before he had died.

"An idiot or me." Cathi Gata said quietly as she moved to stand beside Killian.

She didn't seem armed, but that was a fiction. She was never unarmed. She was one of few Tenno who could manifest and wield a Glaive like the First Tenno had. She could literally make it out of a part of her warframe and make it vanish just as quickly. Add to that the fact that she could steer said Glaive in flight and she was lethal beyond belief even before you added in her warframe's incredible durability and power.

"You trust _him?_ " Karl snapped, hand on his sword hilt.

"Trust doesn't come into it." Cathi Gata replied evenly. "He will do his job, no matter how distasteful it may be. No matter how it may anger some of us." Karl did not react at the not so hidden rebuke in her words. "Karen is not talking to _us_ either."

Karl stiffened and then nodded slowly. "So… Whatever happened, she doesn't want it splashing on the clan."

"Probably." Cathi Gata said with a small shrug. "She does have a bit of a stick up her rear about some things but she would never betray Aeron."

"No." Karl admitted grudgingly. "No, she wouldn't." It had taken all of five seconds to see that Aeron and Karen had a very strong father-daughter relationship. Neither was what anyone would call _sane_ , but both loved each other. "Anything else?"

"Diana is off scouting Karen's last mission." Cathi Gata replied. "It was a simple run, delivering the girl who was recovered from the Index to Orcus Relay and then back to her colony." Karl looked at her and she paused. "You didn't hear?"

"No." Karl shook his head. " _Index?_ "

"Long story." Cathi Gata heaved a deep sigh. "Short version? Nef Anyo made a mess. Tenno cleaned it up. Took several Tenno and the Perrin Sequence, but we managed."

"Good." Karl gave himself a shake. "So… Karen went off to a colony and came back infected. That shouldn't be possible." There were a lot of safeguards on a Tenno ship to avoid just such things.

"It shouldn't be, no." Cathi Gata agreed. "But it happened. We are scrambling, trying to figure out what happened and why. All of our medics are _rather_ upset as you can imagine. Thing is, we are involved, so we cannot be neutral. That is why I called Killian in."

" _You_ called _him_ in." Karl couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice. Not that he tried hard. _She_ had been the one arrested. Kidnapped right out of the clan's dojo in all but legal wording.

"I did." Cathi Gata replied. "Because I know he will do whatever is needed. I am here as an observer only. Hence the lack of weapons." Karl scoffed and she shook her head. "Don't make this harder than it already is, Karl. Karen is my sister and my friend but if she is guilty of this, then we need to know."

There really wasn't anything Karl could say to that. It was the truth.

"Okay." Karl glared once more at the cop before nodding to Vina and Jillias.

"Let's do this."


	10. Chapter 10

**Infections**

No one talked. There really wasn't anything to say. A bubble of silence spread around them. No one really wanted to draw the attention of the three warframes as they stalked through the Relay, even with their escort. Karl kept most of his awareness on his surroundings, but part of his mind was focused on the Atlas that walked beside him. He fought hard to keep from looking at the golden Valkyr. For her part, Cathi Gata didn't seem to be watching him, but he knew she was.

He was Tenno. He was not human. Some of what he had been told when he had woken after his experiences had shocked him, but he _was_ Tenno. He served. It was what he did. Truth be told, he didn't understand all of what he had been told, so he had shifted it out of his mind, forgotten about it. He had a job to do, he did it. Simple.

As he walked he reviewed what he remembered about Karen. She hadn't started out as Tenno. She had been human and hurt by his brother. Again, he didn't remember Nicholas, but the sheer torrent of hate that tore through him when he tried to remember made him glad of that. Now? She wore a Mag warframe and worked hard to serve the clan and be the best Tenno she could be. From what he had seen? She was a good one. At least… What he could remember...

 _Karl, don't push it._ Swallow's voice spoke into Karl's mind and the Rhino fought hard to keep himself walking as he had been. Swallow was a good sort. He wasn't always nice, but he usually meant well. _They did what they could._

 _I know that Sparrow._ Karl replied the same way. It wasn't normal Tenno mental communication, but that stood to reason. Neither of them were anywhere close to 'normal'. Both had been  dead. Sparrow for a long, _long_ time. _Are you still_ _practicing_ _with_ _the body they made for you_ _?_

 _They would have let you stay_ _too_ _._ Sparrow sounded a little upset and Karl understood. The young sounding Tenno had saved a bit of Karl's vital energy when the younger Tenno had been savaged by an energy destroying device intended to kill energy beings like Tenno. (And wasn't that an odd thing to contemplate? Being younger than Sparrow felt wrong!) _You hurt everyone when you left._

 _I_ _had to_ _._ Karl agreed soberly. _I needed the time. I am not who I was. When Tiana asked me to take the reins, I had to leave._

 _I_ _do not agree, but I do understand your reasoning_ _._ Sparrow heaved a great sigh.

 _I know it hurt them, but I had to leave._ _I am not who I was._ _I will stand as their ally, but I cannot lead them._ Karl said heavily. _Not now. Perhaps not ever. For now? I will focus on this mess._

 _Good._ A final caress of his mind and Sparrow was gone back to wherever the Zarimon children were physically hidden.

The exchange with Sparrow had taken bare seconds and the Liaison was moving to a sealed door warded by two Tenno in warframes. Neither was a member of the clan that Karl had once led, so it wasn't surprising that both reacted with a bit of dismay as Karl approached them. The Nova warframe and Hydroid warframe both had weapons ready, but from their postures, neither wanted to fight.

"Brother, sister." Karl said in greeting. "Tenno Karen is within?"

"We were told you were coming." The Hydroid nodded. "She is. She had not spoken. We disarmed her, per orders, but she has not reacted at all since we took her into custody."

"She won't." Karl said heavily. "Is she infectious?"

"No." The Nova sounded confused and he couldn't blame his sister a bit. "No sign or spore anywhere around her. It makes no sense. She was the only one there when they were exposed, so she has to be. But she is not."

'We have seen a lot of strange stuff recently. But that is very unlike the Tenno I met." Karl reassured the Nova. He looked at Cathi Gata who gave a minute nod. "She is not shy about speaking her mind."

"No, she is not." The dry response came from Killian. Karl ignored that.

The Rhino looked at his companions. Cathi Gata did not react. Killian shrugged. Jillias looked like she wanted to be _anywhere_ but where she was. Karl nodded to each in turn and then turned to the door.

"We will speak to her, but the room must be shielded." Karl said quietly. "I do not know what secrets we may discuss and she is privy to things that must not come to light. Ever. That is likely why she has remained silent." He saw the Valkyr at his side nod in agreement. The Atlas did as well.

"We were briefed." The Hydroid replied with a firm nod that became a bow. "We have set the fields up for such. All it requires is your entry. Um… The human?" He asked, sounding worried.

"Liaison Jillias." Karl turned to the human who was frowning. "We cannot guarantee your safety inside the room. We will do everything we can if you insist on coming in. But we cannot be sure that the infection has been stopped. There _is_ danger."

"It is unlikely that she will speak with me in there anyway." Jillias said after a moment's thought. Karl nodded and she took a deep breath. "That said, I _am_ afraid-" She broke off as Karl raised a hand.

"With _reason_." Karl's reply was forceful. "Technocyte Infestation is a _horror_. Every Tenno knows this. We do not think the less of you for acknowledging your fear. Stay here. We will tell you what we can report to your Administrator once we have spoken with Tenno Karen."

All of the Tenno in the area nodded to his words. Jillias looked at him and then slumped a little in relief. Cathi Gata patted her arm and moved to stand by Karl as Killian moved to stand just behind him. Karl moved to the door and opened for him.

He was ready for just about anything. He was not ready for nothing. Karen sat on the floor across from the door, her seiza as perfect as any Tenno. Her warframe was as immaculate as the last time he had seen it in the dojo.

Karl took two steps into the room, aware of the Valkyr and Atlas taking up position on either side of the door as it closed.

"Karen." Karl kept his voice calm.

"Karl." Karen was calm as well. Too calm? Maybe. She didn't sound quite right. Certainly not the same as when he had met her in the dojo.

"What happened?" Karl said, his scrutiny sweeping over the room. There was nothing else in it except Karen.

"I don't know." Karen's tone was controlled. Too controlled. Karl did not move, did not react. Did not reply. She simply sat there and after a moment, she spoke again. "I must have missed a decontamination protocol, but I don't think I did."

"Those are automatic." Karl said quietly. "The only way for it not to work is if you turned those protocols off. Doing so would have sounded all kinds of alarms. With reason."

"How many infected?" Karen's voice was soft now.

"Four." Karl replied, his eye on the Mag who still hadn't moved. "None dead. Yet."

"I turned the decontamination protocols back on!" Karen said sadly. "I know I did."

" _What?_ " Killian spoke up for the first time. "Why did you have them _off?_ " He demanded. Cathi Gata laid a hand on his arm, but he shook it off. "That is illegal!"

"I carried the Triuna back to her colony." Karen said weakly. "The protocols would have killed her and undone all of what we fought for."

"What?" Killian snapped, only to freeze as Karl spun to glare at him.

"First we hear her side, _then_ you can be yourself." Karl snapped. "Until then? _Hush._ " The cop met his gaze, but could not keep it and finally nodded acquiescence. "Karen, I have been out of contact fro some time. What happened?"

"Nef Anyo attacked an isolated human colony." Karen said quietly. "He was after a secret they harbored. We were called in to help them. We didn't understand at first what he had stolen or why. It finally made sense, but it took some time and quite a bit of effort. The colony exists inside an infested hive."

"That is not possible." Killian said sharply, only to freeze as Karl growled at him. This time, Cathi Gata stepped in between Karl and the cop, her hands up to keep them apart.

"I said the same." Karen was sad, so sad. "If not for their Triuna, all of them would have died and been subsumed. They needed her back and I… I..." Was she _crying?_

"Karen, be calm."Karl commanded and knelt down in front of her. "I am not who I was, but I m not your enemy either."

"I checked, Karl." Karen said weakly. "There was no sign of infestation on my ship after I dropped her off. None. But now… I am infected and I have infected humans. And I don't know _how!_ " The last word was strained.

"You are not infectious." The Rhino replied. Karen jerked and her head shot up, she was obviously staring at him. "I know. It makes no sense at all. But every test they have done shows you clean."

"Then how did I infect those people?" Karen pleaded. "They screamed and fell and I… I did it." She shook her head and Karl froze as he saw something different on her. She jerked and stared at him. "Karl?"

"Turn your head to the right, Karen." Cathi Gata said from behind Karl as he reached to take hold of his Ether Sword. Karen stared from the Valkyr to the now standing Rhino with his sword in hand and then did as instructed.

Everything stopped in the room as Karl slowly laid the tip of his sword against the small red, purple and black object that had been hidden on Karen's neck. He poked it gingerly and it hissed as a foul cloud of matter escaped from it. But them the tiny cut closed and it pulsed as he stared at it.

"How the _hell_ did they miss this?" Karl demanded. Neither of the others spoke and he pressed a bit deeper with his sword tip. Karen did not react as the pustulent thing deflated, a foul ichor running down the Mag's neck to her chest. To his amazement and horror, it was already healing and refilling.

"What is it?" Karen wasn't quite begging.

"A small infested cyst like thing has attached to your warframe on the side of your neck." Karl said quietly. "There is no way that the automated systems would have missed this. No way at all." He looked at Cathi Gata and Killian who shook their heads in unison.

"You are right." Killian sounded sick. "There is no way that any of our protections could have missed this. So..."

"So this was intentional." Karl said with a snarl. "Someone set Karen up as a vector for this. But why?"

He spun in place as the door hissed open behind him. His sword was in hand. Killian had a Sobek shotgun in hand and Cathi Gata her Glaive as the door they had assumed would remain shut until they were done opened and another warframe entered. But this one was very different.

The warframe wasn't a common design. No, the warframe was, but its _skin_ wasn't. The huge horns on either side of the head proclaimed it to be a Harka skin on a Frost warframe. The blade it the newcomer's back was obviously something that was meant to look like it belonged in an fantasy epic of some kind. Karl was just recovering his wits when Killian snapped.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The cop demanded. To Karl's shock, the cop had his Sobek aimed! And if Karl was not mistaken, the shotgun's safety was off.

"The guilty will be punished." The newcomer said firmly, his hand coming up with a Embolist pistol. Aimed at _Karen!_

"Do it and perish." Karl declared, moving between the kneeling Tenno and the newcomer.

"She is guilty." The other said, moving to the side, Karl stepped with him, still blocking his shot.

"That remains to be seen, you lousy excuse for a Tenno." Killian was about to fire! "And no, your _opinion_ is _not_ the law, no matter what you may _say_."

"She will be punished." The other retorted, still calm. Or… No. Not calm. But focused. So focused.

"So, you _still_ think you are the law even after the Elders had their say. The judge and jury as well as the executioner." Killian declared. "Good to know." At that, Karl inhaled and Killian spoke again. "His name is Prum. He is a vigilante. And a _nut._ "

At that, Karl stepped towards the newcomer and activated his Iron Skin. No matter what the Frost had in his weapon, it wasn't getting past the Rhino. Then Cathi Gata moved to flank Karl and her Glaive hummed in her hand.

The door opened again and the Hydroid and Nova from before rushed in. Both were coated in ice! It took no imagination to figure out where said ice had come from.

"You claim the moral high ground when you attack kin?" Karl inquired mildly. "I see. Brother, sister? Are you well? Have you reported this?"

"Yes to both. He stepped up and froze us without speaking. Asshole." The Hydroid held a Vaykor Sydon ready. The Nova just snarled, her Boltor aimed.

"More bully than Tenno." Karl replied offhand, his gaze on the Frost who was still trying to edge around to get a shot at Karen. "Only fights when the odds are in his favor. She won't fight because she doesn't know what happened. But I _will_." That was not a threat. That was a promise.

"That one is guilty of violating the Code!" The Frost snapped, stymied. He ignored the others, still trying for a clear shot at Karen.

"Enough." Karl said as the other four Tenno raised their weapons. "You do not know that. But such doesn't matter to people like you. So, I will say something that _will_ matter to you. If that weapon fires, I will beat you to death with your own limbs." It was hard to say what was worse. The threat or the cold, emotionless delivery of said threat.

Considering that Tenno were energy inhabiting meat bodies? Oh dear… Such a death might take a while.

"She is guilty!" The fanatic snapped. "I will punish her."

"That remains to be seen." Karl said flatly. "Right now, I see someone who is acting like a kinslayer. Let me guess. You have a pinup of Stalker in your landing craft. You are acting like him."

"She is guilty!" The Frost snapped and then screamed as Karl slammed into him. He had been trying to activate one of his powers. It didn't matter which one. Any of them would have caused problems. Avalanche might have killed one or more of the humans in areas surrounding the room. Snow Globe and Frost Wave, likewise. Freeze would have only hurt one or two of the Tenno in the room, but Karl had heard enough.

The Charge bowled the Frost into the wall where Karl took hold of one of the horns of the Frost's helmet. He calmly and assuredly slammed the fanatic's helmet into the wall. Then he did it again and again.

"Did he hurt Jillias?" Karl asked in a conversational tone as all of the others stared at him. Cathi Gata hissed in worry. The human had been with the two Tenno and not nearly as well protected. He slammed the Frost into the wall again. Good thing they built Relay walls tough. The _Frost_ would break before the _wall_ did.

"She was caught in the pulse he froze us with. She is alive." The Hydroid said with a growl. "Cold and she will need medical help, but she isn't hypothermic. Just unconscious. I got to her in time."

"Good." The Rhino replied as he held the struggling Frost off the ground. Holy hell! With _one hand!_ The Frost feebly grabbed for the Rhino's grip and failed miserably to budge the angry Tenno's fingers from around his neck. "If you had killed that human, I _would_ be ripping your leg off right now and beating you with it." Karl said sternly. "Don't make me decide that you are renegade. I don't _like_ renegades."

More than one in the room winced at that. Karl's history hunting renegades was well known even if he didn't remember it now. But no one spoke as the Frost struggled weakly to get free.

"You are better than him, Karl." Karen's soft voice spoke from behind everyone. "So much better."

"Sometimes." Karl mused as he tossed the Frost to the floor. Before Prum could move, the Rhino had a huge foot planted on him and the Frost was going _nowhere_. "Officer Killian, we have had our disagreements, but this seems to be a matter for the Law."

"I will say." Killian stepped close and began to strip the Frost of weapons. "He has killed humans before. But this is the first time he has attacked kin in front of witnesses."

"He has." Karl's tone conveyed both contempt and disgust. Both at the Frost and at the cop who nodded.

"We knew he did it, but there was no proof. We are pretty sure he has killed two kin. Again, no proof." Killian said with a growl worthy of a drahk. "But this? Oh… I think the Elders will like to see the recording I made of this." He laughed sourly as he restrained the Frost with something that glowed. "I know _I_ liked seeing you slam him into the wall. Most of us have wanted to. This guy gives Tenno a bad name by _breathing_."

"You are guilty!" The Frost ranted at Karen who wilted. "You will not escape punishment!"

"Can you shut him up? Karl asked as Killian retreated a step.

"Yeah." Killian reached for his chest and a golden device on it started to glow. The Frost made no noise, just fell over. "He isn't the only one who will think she is guilty of violating the Code." He warned.

"So, we get her somewhere neutral and secure." Karl agreed.

"Good thing I was going there anyway."


	11. Chapter 11

**Time**

Indigo J-05 was bemused by all this.

Here she was, for all intents and purposes a prisoner in an ancient dwelling of Tenno and she was not afraid. There was a certain level of apprehension of course. Tenno were not human. They were alien. She was not one of them and it was impossible to forget. She had only seen a few Tenno so far. Rachel, Karl and Jasmina in particular. There were others about, but she hadn't been introduced to them and frankly? She was glad of that. She really wasn't sure where she stood with Tenno as a whole, but she _did_ know she was under threat from the ones outside of Rachel's control.

She couldn't really blame them.

Even as she ate her midday meal in the small room that had been set up for her use with a table, chair and desk, she fingered the metal circlet that had been affixed to the back of her skull. It did not hurt, and she felt nothing off about it. But she knew what it was for. To keep her from doing anything. She wasn't sure what it would do to her if she acted up and she did not want to find out. The room was comfortable, as were her sleeping quarters. But _had to be_ locks on the doors and she had no control over those locks. It said something that the Tenno hadn't bothered to lock them. She just wasn't sure what. She knew that if she stepped out of line, she would be punished.

Indigo J-05 knew about rules. She had been an _enfo_ _r_ _cer_ of them for the Corpus for goodness sake. She was-

"Indigo J-05?" A quiet voice sounded from nearby. Indigo J-05 looked up from her meal and froze.

Another warframe stood in the doorway nearby that led to the common areas, not one she had seen before. The golden trim proclaimed it to be a Prime warframe, but the colors were utterly unlike any she had seen in this place, purples and blues that on first glance seemed garish, but then were oddly soothing tot he eye. The golden circle in the middle of the faceplate was a bit off putting, so she bit her tongue to keep from giving offense. It was the human looking girl standing beside the warframe that had her staring. The girl wore something that wasn't a bodysuit like the one Indigo J-05 wore but was similar. Sort of.

"I apologize for startling you." The Tenno said with a nod. "But you did not answer the com."

"I… What?" Indigo J-05 paused in whatever she had been about to say. She hadn't _heard_ the com. She stared at her meal, which was finished and then at the datapad she had been perusing. It was an unadulterated version of the text that had gotten her into this mess and it was fascinating. So many words that she didn't know and the context was difficult to piece together. She gave herself a stern shake and nodded tot he pair at her door. "I am sorry." She said with a small smile. 'I get focused on things sometimes."

"Focus can be a good thing." The human looking girl smiled as she said that. "My name is Mishka, this is Elenia." She nodded to the Mag warframe who nodded to Indigo J-05.

"I, um..." Indigo J-05 kicked herself and nodded back, rising to her feet. "Pleased to meet you." Mishka smiled at her, but Indigo J-05 wasn't reassured. The warframe shook its head.

"We are no threat to you, Indigo J-05." The one named Elenia said with a frown in her voice. "You have not done anything wrong consciously. We are here to make sure you do not succumb to the Technocyte Virus."

"You are." Indigo J-05 couldn't keep a hint of suspicion out of her voice. Tenno were not human and this whole situation was so far out of her understanding as to be ludicrous.

"We are." Mishka replied and then paused. "May we come in? We do not want to be rude."

"I..." Indigo J-05 slumped a bit and then nodded. It wasn't as if she could stop them and she was feeling more than a bit lonely and bored. In the Corpus, she had never lacked for work to do. The text was fascinating, true, but she was going a bit stir crazy just sitting. "What can I do for you?"

"Actually..." Mishka pursed her lips in an expression that was much older than her apparent age. Was she human? "We need you to come with us. We mean you no harm and we do not want to scare you. Jasmina scares you and you do not know why."

At the mention of that Tenno's name, Indigo J-05 tensed, every muscle in her body ready to fight or flee as silly as that was. She had nowhere to go. She was fighting the feelings when Mishka stepped forward and laid a hand on the human woman's arm.

"We mean you no harm." Mishka repeated, her tone gentle. "Be at ease, Indigo J-05. You have nothing to fear from us." She stroked the frightened human's arm gently and despite everything, Indigo J-05 relaxed. But then her eyes narrowed. "Elenia, she is exposed." Indigo J-05 tensed at that and Mishka took her hand in a gentle one. "We will not hurt you."

"Exposed." Indigo J05 swallowed hard and fought to keep her heart from racing out of control. After a few moments, it slowed a bit. "To the Virus?"

"Yes." Mishka was sad and Indigo J-05 fought back a compulsion to hug the young woman. To comfort her. She didn't know these people but she found she liked Mishka. "There is no way to avoid that here."

"Rachel warned me." The human swallowed hard again. "But I am afraid. Infestation is a horror."

"You have every right to fear. It _is_ horror." Mishka said flatly. "You have been exposed, but you are not beyond the point of no return yet. We can help and we will, but there is little time." She twitched her hand. "Come with us. Please?" She begged.

"I do not understand." Indigo J-05 said weakly as she started off at Mishka's urging. Elenia followed, her warframe a silent, grim hint to be polite. "You do not need to _ask_."

"Yes, we _do_." Mishka said darkly, but her face brightened as Indigo J-05 looked at her. "You see, we have a duty. A fairly nasty one. However, we also have rules that we follow. We have people who look to use for guidance and protection. There is an ancient saying however, 'you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar'." Indigo J-05 stared at the human looking form and Mishka smiled. "It means that you get better results sometimes with courtesy than with anger."

"I guess I can see that." Indigo J-05 said weakly. "The Company never cared, but yes..." She mused. "I can see that in interpersonal relations and in societal as well." She jerked as door opened ahead, but the Tenno that stepped through it was one she knew The huge white form had never been anything less that strictly courteous. "Tenno Karl." She bowed somewhat awkwardly as she walked and he nodded to her before moving to join the trio.

"This will frighten you badly." Karl said without preamble. "You need to trust us, Indigo J-05."

"Do I have a choice?" Indigo J-05 managed to dredge up a bit of snark from somewhere and Mishka smiled at her. But the smile as melancholy.

"Not really." Mishka took hold of one hand and Karl took hold of her other. Indigo J-05 swallowed hard as they led her to another door that opened for them. But what lay beyond had Indigo J-05 freezing in place.

"No..." Indigo J-05 begged as the pair pulled her into the room towards a large fleshy pod that lay on the floor. Towards the Infested creature that stood over it. "NO!" She screamed and tried to pull back, but she couldn't budge the hands that held her. " _PLEASE_!" She screamed as they pulled her bodily towards the pod.

"This will not hurt you." Elenia's voice came from close behind her and Indigo J-05 screamed in horror as the Infested thing reached for her. It touched her leg and suddenly she couldn't _move_! "Go easy, Healer. She is terrified. Yes...Yes I know." The Tenno's hands were gentle on Indigo J-05's skull now. "We need to take your suit off. Dissolving it would take too much time and be potentially dangerous to you."

"No..." Indigo J-05 managed to croak as her bodysuit split down the seams and opened. She felt the warframe's hands pulling it off of her. Her boots went with it. She tried to scream again and couldn't.

"There is no time." Elenia said flatly. "I am sorry, but we need to do this now or you _will_ be infected."

Indigo J-05 could only scream inside her mind as the white armored Tenno lifted her now shivering body up and laid it in the pod. The surface undulated underneath her and the vibrations were odd. Not bad, just odd. She reached out with her mind as she had in the experiments with Rachel and something went snap behind her head. It didn't hurt, but she couldn't do anything. Everything was far away now. She was cut off from herself. Somehow.

"It is all right." Mishka was crying as she stroked Indigo J-05's cheek gently. "You will sleep and when you wake, this will be over. No one blames you for what you just did. No one. We will not hurt you. Rest now."

Something wrapped around Indigo J-05's jaw and she could feel something pushing past her teeth as wetness seeped up and around her. She felt her anger and fear recede as something seeped through her. A sharp pain in her leg was barely noticed as the wetness approached her head and something closed over top of her. Her eyes closed without her control but she wasn't afraid. Not now..

 _It is all right._ Mishka's voice was in Indigo J-05's head now, still calm and sad. _Let me see… Oh yes. Twinkle, twinkle, little star… how I wonder what you are…_

The sheer absurdity of the girl singing a lullaby from ancient Earth had Indigo J-05 jerking in shock and then she knew no more.

* * *

It seemed bare moments later that Indigo J-05 opened her eyes again to find Mishka sitting beside her. Indigo J-05 was not actually surprised to find herself lying on the bed in her quarters. The human stared down at herself and she wore an odd garment that wasn't quite a bodysuit.

"There was no time to be gentle." Mishka said sadly, taking Indigo J-05's hand in her own. "I am sorry. But we had _minutes_ at best."

"This was to protect me from the virus." Indigo J-05 said softly. Mishka nodded but the human was even more confused. "But...that was an Infested. An Ancient."

"Yes it was." Mishka slumped a bit. "I wish I could tell you more. You could handle it but it wouldn't be safe for you to know any more. Safe for you _or_ for us. She is gone. You are not infected. We will be leaving shortly and we will not be returning. We abused your trust."

"You said there was no choice." Indigo J-05 said quietly.

"Once a being is exposed to the virus, there isn't." Mishka said sadly. "I had hoped to explain, ease you into that but there wasn't time."

"Ask me for anything but time. Someone named Napoleon said that." Indigo J-05 said quietly. Mishka stared at her and the human managed a small smile. "You did not lie to me. You did not hurt me. You could have. You did not." She pulled Mishka close and the girl did not resist as Indigo J-05 hugged her.

"I am sorry." Mishka was crying as Indigo J-05 held her. "That felt so wrong. There was no time and we had no choice, but that was so wrong."

"You helped me." Indigo J-05 said calmly as she stroked Mishka's hair. Whatever Mishka was, she was very young. Not an innocent, no. Young and scared. "You protected me and I… I..." She stiffened as memory flooded in. "I tried to take _control_ of you." Shame sounded in her voice now.

"We scared you." Mishka hugged Indigo J-05 tight. "Self preservation is and always has been a biological imperative. We knew you would, unconsciously or consciously. Same thing. You were terrified, afraid of losing your life or worse. No one blames you for _that._ "

"But I could have..." Indigo J-05 was cut off as Mishka hugged her tighter.

"That was not your fault." Mishka chided Indigo J-05 gently. "Now. I have a few minutes to explain what we did and why and then I need to go."

"Do you have to?" Indigo J-05 asked, suddenly reluctant to let go of the one thing she understood in this crazy situation. Mishka was a kind and gentle soul. Doing what she had done had hurt the girl. "I was scared. I am worried. But I do not blame you for what you had to do."

"I do." Mishka said quietly. "There had to be another way. A gentler way."

"Not necessarily." Indigo J-05 replied with a sigh. "Sometimes all of the choices are bad. Mishka, you did not hurt me. I did not hurt you. Let us go on from there."

"If you are sure." Mishka stared at the human who smiled at her.

"I would prefer not to go through that again." Indigo J-05 smiled wider as Mishka goggled at her. "But no harm done?" Mishka shook her head. "Good. I am hungry. You?" A murmur came from somewhere and Indigo J-05 tensed as Mishka looked away. "What was that?"

"My um… group can communicate in an odd way." Mishka said quietly. "You can tap the edges of that now. It is almost an organic quantum entanglement communicator but not quite." Indigo J-05 went still and Mishka nodded. She rubbed the material that covered Indigo J-05's arm. "This covering was the only way to keep you from being infected if you stay here long term. If you go anywhere else, the Tenno will kill you. And that would be a waste."

"Thank you, Mishka." Indigo J-05 hugged Mishka again. "I will try not to eavesdrop."

"And _we_ will try not to drive you crazy with half heard murmurs." Mishka hugged Indigo J-05 right back. "I _am_ hungry. If… If you don't mind, we can eat together. Then I do need to go."

"I do not mind." Indigo J-05 sat up and then slid her legs off the bed. She wasn't weak at all. She rose to her feet and stared down at herself. The garment was as formfitting as the bodysuit had been. She had boots and gloves but the material wasn't anything she had ever seen. "What is this made of?"

"It was made from your body. As for how? You do _not_ want to _know_." Mishka had a slightly sick look on her face and Indigo J-05 stared at her for a moment before dropping the subject. She tapped her own arm and Indigo J-05 saw a similar thing for a moment before it shifted to look like clothing. "With practice you can make it look like regular clothing. But that will take time and no one here will bother you about it. Thing is, if a Grineer or Corpus scans you… The scan will come up as Infested."

"And they will kill me." Indigo J-05 said flatly. Mishka nodded. "Infested?"

"That varies." Mishka's tone was professional as they started walking towards the door. "Then again, feral infested often attack each other as quickly as they attack anything outside of themselves. Sometimes, they leave you be. Others? They attack." Indigo J-05 stared at Mishka. That sounded like experience talking. Mishka just shook her head. "Please don't ask. I cannot answer."

The hallway was empty and Indigo J-05 was glad of that. She wasn't sure how she felt at the moment. After the fear and confusion, now the sadness and compassion that Mishka was projecting had taken hold and she was not angry. She might be in the future, but truth be told? She couldn't really blame Mishka. The girl had helped, even if said help had been rough and scary. The pair entered another room, one that had been set up as a mess hall, but hadn't been used in a long, long time from all appearances. But another was sitting at a table when they entered. The human… no. She wasn't human although Indigo J-05 wasn't sure how she knew that. The dark hair and eyes were common enough. The being sitting at the table was eating. Her eyes slid to Mishka and Indigo J-05 and then away.

"Karen?" Mishka asked as she got a tray and Indigo J-05 followed suit. "May we join you?" The other shrugged and slid a little to the side, leaving more space at the table. "This is Indigo J-05, Karen. She is staying here." Mishka put her tray down beside Karen's and indicated the seat on the other side to Indigo J-05. The human sat a bit self consciously. She wasn't nearly as graceful as Mishka was. "How you doing?"

Karen did not react and Mishka sighed deeply before focusing on her food. It was a nearly silent meal. Mishka was humming softly, but neither of the others seemed to want to speak. Finally, Mishka spoke again.

"It wasn't your fault, Karen. Someone set you up." Indigo J-05 paused in mid-bite at that.

"My warframe." Karen growled. "My fault."

"You didn't see it." Mishka said flatly. "No one did. There was no way for you to know that the protocols had been subverted or by who. It wasn't your fault. No one died. No one was subsumed. We will figure this out. You are clean now and you will stay that way."

Karen did not react and Indigo J-05 felt something. Something odd from Karen. Odd and _familiar_.

" _Is_ she?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Walls**

For a long moment after Indigo J-05 spoke, there was utter silence and her fear spiked as high as it had when she had been carried into a room with a living Infested Ancient in it. She didn't dare breathe, let alone move, as the woman called Karen eyed her. She was acutely aware of how vulnerable she was as the woman just sat there, totally still.

"Karen." Mishka's quiet voice shattered the tableau. "What do you feel right now?"

The other did not reply, just kept her focus on Indigo J-05 who didn't dare do anything. Whatever Karen was, she wasn't human. Never before had Indigo J-05 felt so alone and helpless. She had done her share of field work for the Corpus and on more than one occasion, she had fought the enemies of the Company. Never Tenno, her luck had held through that but she remembered fighting Grineer, Infested and odd wildlife in a number of places.

 _This_ however…

She was acutely aware of her bladder emptying. She didn't feel wetness or smell anything. It had to be the garment taking care of it somehow. It would have been embarrassing anywhere else. Right now though, she knew that if she took her eyes from the non-human in front of her, she wouldn't live long enough to look back. She couldn't say how she knew that. She just did.

"Karen." Mishka's voice was worried now, but Indigo J-05 ignored that. Mishka wasn't a threat. This Karen person was. "Don't make me call Rachel, Karen. Talk to me."

"You are the enslaver." Karen said finally. Indigo J-05 jerked a little away from the cold, hard words. "You will not enslave me."

Indigo J-05 paused in her immediate rejoinder. She didn't understand. She glanced sidelong at Mishka without taking her eyes off of Karen, but the girl seemed just as confused as Indigo J-05 was.

"You have me confused with someone else." Indigo J-05 kicked herself when the words came out. That wasn't helping matters."I am here so that I will not take control of anyone. It makes me feel dirty when Rachel asks me do it so that they can try to understand what I do and how. I know that a Tenno died for me, but I have no idea how I did what everyone says I did after that. I have no intention of doing it again outside of here. I feel something different from you and I have no idea what it might be."

She forced herself to relax even though every pore was screaming at her to run. To hide. She took a bite of her food, not taking her eyes off of Karen.

For her part, Karen hadn't moved as much as a muscle. Her dark eyes flicked to Mishka and then back to Indigo J-05.

"Karen." Mishka's voice was quiet. "She didn't want to do it. For the tests, Rachel forced her to. She didn't know what she was doing before. It wasn't her fault. She isn't Nicholas."

Indigo J-05 stiffened as Karen jerked away from the human looking girl's soft words. The other nearly fell out of her seat, she slammed back so hard. Whoever this Nicholas person had been, whatever he had done, it had been bad from Karen's reaction.

"I cannot take control of you." Indigo J-05 said when it was clear that Karen would not. "Not only does it feel wrong, but I _cannot_." She reached up the hand furthest from Karen to touch the metal circle attached to the back of her skull. "Here, they can keep me from doing it and I am glad." She said fervently. "It feels so wrong when I do it."

"Karen." Mishka said flatly, her patience fleeing. "She isn't Nicholas. She won't do it."

"You do not know that." Karen retorted.

"Fine." Mishka snapped. "I will prove it. Indigo J-05? Take control of me."

"What?" Indigo J-05 fell out of her seat, she jerked so hard. " _No!_ "

She landed on her rump and ignored the flare of pain as she scuttled away from Mishka, trying to keep her eyes on Karen at the same time. She slammed into something and a hand touched her shoulder as she tried to backpedal more.

"Be calm, Indigo J-05." The deep voice of Karl had her trying to scuttle away in another direction, but his hand gripped her shoulder and held her in place effortlessly. "Mishka is simply trying to prove her point."

" _I won't!_ " Indigo J-05 screamed. " _I won't!_ "

Something touched her skull from behind and her mind was pulled a bit away from herself. She couldn't use whatever odd power she had like this. She couldn't move. She was crying as huge armored arms gathered her up and held her off the ground. Small hands were running over her arms and legs. The motions were soothing, calming. Another was checking her vitals even as she cried.

"It makes her feel bad to do it, Karen." Karl's quiet voice had all eyes on him. "You may consider it a violation and in some ways, you are right. But _she_ does too. Tell me something, Karen. If you had the chance to enslave Nicholas right now and hurt him as he hurt you, would you?" Karen did not react, her eyes on the crying woman. His voice turned stern. "Would you to others do what he did to you?"

"No." Karen's soft voice echoed oddly in the mess hall. She unbent a bit and then she slumped as Indigo J-05 cried. "She… really feels that?"

"Yes." Mishka's tone was savage now. "She really feels that she rapes Rachel every time she does it. That is what the term 'rape' means. It is not about intercourse, it is about power, control and domination. It is deep seated, her feeling. She is not faking what she feels."

"What happened to you?" Karen asked slowly. Indigo J-05 could not answer through her tears and Karl heaved a sigh. He set her back in her seat. The small hands that had been touching her were on her arms now, still soothing.

"She doesn't know." Mishka took Indigo J-05's hands in her own. "Her memories were wiped and she was given a new job as an Educator. But whatever it was, it was _bad_. The feelings are still there. There is evidence of old injuries, Bad ones." She sighed and gave Indigo J-05's hands a squeeze. "Indigo J-05, it is all right. I am not asking you to do it it to me. I was proving my point to Karen. You do not want to do it. It is okay. It is okay."

The kindness and worry in Mishka's voice finally broke through Indigo J-05's fear and pain. She threw herself into Mishka's arms, still crying.

"Please don't ask that of me!" Indigo J-05 bawled as Mishka held her. "Ever."

"We need to know how you do it so it can be countered, Indigo J-05." Mishka said sadly as she held the crying woman. "I won't ask it of you. I didn't mean for you to. I was just trying to show Karen how you really feel. How _we_ can feel you react when you think about it."

"She is badly stressed." A new voice said from nearby. "But Rachel is waiting for her in the testing chamber. They are holding the portal for you."

"No." Indigo J-05 stiffened. "I… I can't..."

"I have to go." Mishka said gently. "Indigo J-05, I have to go." She crooned as Indigo J-05 clung to her. "Be strong, girl. You are not alone."

She gave Indigo J-05 another squeeze and the extricated herself before the human could react. Indigo J-05 reached for her, but Mishka shook her head sadly and was gone.

"No..." Indigo J-05 pleased. "No. Please. Don't… I can't..."

"It is all right." The new voice sounded from beside her and Indigo J-05 stared as a warframe in miniature stepped into her field of view. The Trinity warframe was exactly as she had seen such things in Corpus databases, but only half the size of an adult human. "Indigo J-05? My name is Suno. I have been delegated to assist you through the tests."

"Please." Indigo J-05 begged. "I can't do this. I can't. It feels so good, but I know it isn't."

"We need to know how to counter this." Suno said heavily. "Come, Indigo J-05. We can- What? No!"

Indigo J-5 had heard enough. She threw herself forward, aiming for one of the few protrusions in the room. The table's corner was rounded, but it might, just, be… She slammed her forehead into it as hard as she could and knew no more.

* * *

Indigo J-05 wasn't awake, but she wasn't asleep either. She was floating.

"Idiot girl." The voice was familiar. Roger, the doctor who had run the tests was not happy at all. "Did she really think we would let her do that?"

"She is not thinking clearly." Rachel's voice was worried. "Between the shocks, her reaction to the scans and her deep seated psychological triggers, she cannot think clearly. We need to calm her down. She doesn't have the training Tenno take for granted. She cannot handle the stresses. We will go with option 2. Do it."

"Yes, Ma'am." Something went hiss nearby and Indigo J-05's eyes opened.

Everything was blurry but focused as Indigo J-05 looked around incurious. She saw Rachel standing nearby, the Tenno looked worried but smiled when Indigo J-05 looked at her. They were in one of the medical wards. Indigo J-05 knew them well from the many, many scans that the doc had done on her. She was strapped to the bed, wires and tubes in many places. A drone of a kind she didn't know hovered nearby.

"You scared us, girl." Rachel said kindly. "You fractured your skull. There was no need for that."

"I am falling apart." Indigo J-05 said through haze of something. "Am I drugged?"

"Yes." Rachel slumped a bit. "We have tailored a series of antidepressants to your physiology. This is hurting you but we need to know."

"I know." Indigo J-05 said softly. "I cannot take much more of this."

"You are in a state of equilibrium at the moment." Rachel reassured the human. "We will not let you hurt. The drugs will let you function while we finish the tests."

"Please… don't..." Indigo J-05 managed, only to trail off as something went hiss nearby and her mind hazed a bit. When she could think again, horror met her eyes.

"That is it, girl." Rachel said gently as her body moved. "Two more steps and we will have the data we need." Indigo J-05 recoiled mentally. The Tenno's body jerked and Rachel sighed. "Stop fighting, Indigo J-05. We are going to finish this set and then you are due in the gene scanner again. Two more steps. Make me take two more steps."

All Indigo J-05 could do was cry as her mind fuzzed again.

* * *

"I didn't believe." Karen was stunned as she watched the tests on a monitor.

Roger and Rachel were the only Tenno allowed in the room with Indigo J-05 and the woman was restrained with both the inhibitor device and drugs now. From observation, it had become clear that Indigo J-05 needed to see a subject to take control, so Roger was never in her line of sight.

"This is _so_ wrong." Suno was crying as she stood beside the unarmored Tenno. "Bad enough to experiment on her. The scans and biopsies. But making her do this while aware is tearing her apart."

"She really doesn't want to do it." Karen said weakly. "This is wrong. She will go mad."

"They won't let her. They can use energy and drugs to keep her from that." Suno turned away from the monitor, a gagging noise coming from the tiny warframe. "This is so much like what the Orokin scientists did to us before Master Nikis and Master Richard saved us. They too were kind, tried to be anyway. But so inexorable. They never hurt us. That would have skewed their experiments, made them wait while we recovered. We just had to do what they wanted. This is just like that. We have no rights now, Karen! Can _you_ stop this?"

"I… No." Karen admitted. "Rachel has the authority here and she is not hurting Indigo J-05."

"Bullshit." The unaccustomed swearword from the tiny Trinity had Karen spinning in place. "Maybe not _physically_. But that poor woman is being torn to pieces mentally and emotionally."

"You are right." A new voice had both of them spinning in place only to freeze as both saw a pitch black Nekros warframe standing behind them. "Then again, so is Rachel."

"Nikis." Karen started, but then broke off, her hands motionless and in plain view at her side. Suno just knelt and bowed her head.

"You really think Rachel doesn't know how much this is hurting that human?" Nikis asked softly. "You think she wants to do this? This is why we wanted Mishka gone. Kid wouldn't have been able to stand by and let it happen. We need to know how the human did that and how to counter it."

"We do! We figured out a counter after the first experiment!" Suno snapped and then gasped. "I… Apologies, Master."

"Yeah." Nikis heaved a sigh and then shook his head. After a moment, he nodded to the monitor. "This is the last set. When this is done, they will have all the information they can. Then we go on."

"And Indigo J-05?" Karen demanded. "What about her?"

"What _about_ her?" Nikis sniffed. "She is human, not Tenno." Karen stilled and Nikis suddenly was still as well. "Girl… Don't." He warned.

"Tenno serve. We do not rule." Karen said flatly. "As the First commanded, so we obey."

"Don't you quote the Code at _me_ , brat." Nikis warned, his hands crossed over his chest.

"I thought Tenno were meant to protect humanity." Karen's tone was still flat. "Not Orokin, _humanity_." Nikis just looked at her and Karen slumped a little. "Maybe I am stupid. Maybe I am still just a human playing at being Tenno. Maybe being around Karl and the others so much has skewed my worldview. But, Grandmaster Nikis, that is _wrong_." She waved a low hand at the monitor.

"You get no argument from me, girl." Nikis sounded old and tired for a moment. "But we needed the information. Kid, she ain't our problem. Rachel will find her something to do here and she will live out her life here. A cage, but a comfortable one. They will not let her die or go mad."

"Yeah." Karen slumped quite a bit now. "Just like Dust."

She knew saying the name of Nikis' dead son would hurt and she was not surprised. She hit the wall with a grunt. She didn't dare to move as she stared up into the muzzles of Nikis' paired Magnus pistols. But she met his faceplate calmly.

"I know this is different." Karen said quietly as Suno gasped in shock and fear. "But Grandmaster, it is too close for comfort. They pulled pieces of Indigo J-05's _brain_ out. They are breaking her!"

"Yeah." Nikis sounded bored now. "Yeah, they are." He hawked and spat. "Your point?"

"My point is..." Karen said slowly. "That it is a very slippery slope to expediency. You know that better than any of the rest of us."

"And?" Nikis snapped. "Expediency has its place and don't you forget it."

"And we have _souls_ , Grandmaster." Karen said quietly. "We know things like remorse and regret. We understand the consequences of our actions. We have to act. We are Tenno. It is what we do. But we always have to know what we do and why. Yes, we need to know how to counter what she did in the future. But shattering her will not help matters." She slumped and waited, not looking at the rock steady muzzles that were still aimed at her. She felt rather than saw Suno come to her side and kneel beside her.

Karen jumped as a datapad landed on the floor in front of her. She looked up but Nikis was gone!

"What the hell?" Karen asked nobody as she picked up the datapad.

"You crazy woman." Suno breathed. "Saying his son's name should have gotten you killed."

Nikis' son Dust had been a Tenno of some renown. He had been imprisoned in a secure psychiatric hospital at the time of the Collapse. He had _still_ been in there when the Tenno had reclaimed the hidden colony where the hospital had been built. Alive, whole and completely broken from being awake and aware throughout the ages. He had died a hero, but the wounds were still raw in many cases. Karen had met Dust and admired him. Then he was gone and more than gone. No shred of his existence had passed into the massive Orokin database that had served as a technological afterlife. Karen still grieved for him.

Nikis' reaction on seeing his son so reduced had been...extreme. The colony where he had been found was _still_ repairing the docking bay that the ancient gunfighter had _totally_ destroyed in his rage. That no one had died was a miracle. Then the old Tenno had vanished for a long time, only returning after Dust had perished and _then_ only to help a Tenno Healer. He went his own way, the most ancient of Nekros. Only fools challenged Nikis and only fools with death wishes did so in person.

"He isn't sane." Karen said with a sigh as she started reading. "He has...a right…to it..." She trailed off.

"Karen?" Suno asked as she watched the door warily. Nikis was like a sudden storm. He appeared with fire and fury and then vanished just as swiftly. He _defined_ capricious and cruel at times.

"That woman needs help." Karen said flatly. "She will need a _lot_ of help." She held out the pad to Sun who took it and started reading. The tiny Trinity also inhaled in shock. "Yeah."

"I am calling Iriana."


	13. Chapter 13

**Hurts**

"I am sorry, Karen." The holographic image of Iriana was almost in tears. "We have had a number of problems, including several injuries. It is going to be at least a couple of days before I can get free to do more. From what has been told to me, this Indigo J-05 person is not in any physical danger. Rina and Janas _are_."

Karen jerked from where she had been scowling at the holo terminal. The message wasn't one she had expected, but when Iriana herself hadn't come in the portal, she had known the situation was going to be bad. The Citadel had no way to set up real time communication for most people. That was a security measure that had served the Tenno well throughout the centuries, but now it was biting Karen hard.

"Their mission went bad." Iriana said quietly even as Karen was about to ask why. Not that Iriana could hear her, but the Healer was nothing if not thorough. She had known Karen would worry. "We were vetting two new potential clanmates and the mission went off the rails. One of them did not survive to be recovered, but the other, Tenno Jill, is expected to pull through. Nikis recovered Tenno Ming's energy and he too will recover, but it will take some time."

"And I am stuck here." Karen said in a monotone. She had met Jill and liked the Ivara wearing lunatic. But of course, the recording did not pause.

"We are investigating and yes, your ship was sabotaged." Iriana said with a nod. "Or… something. The decontamination protocols were subverted for a time, but we cannot tell by who. Thing is, we cannot find any evidence of contamination in it now. What we _have_ found is more of those cyst things."

At that, Karen stiffened.

"Five other Tenno have shown them in the clan." Iriana said with a snarl. She took such things very seriously. With reason. "All on warframes. On those of us who do not wear them, it would be far more obvious. But somehow, the mess got to Janna." At that, Karen inhaled in fear and Iriana continued quickly. "She is fine, just scared. I declared the clan quarantined until we can discover how the things are spread."

"Oh my god..." Karen swallowed hard.

"That is the safest place for you right now, Karen." Iriana said quietly. "There have been others who have blamed you for spreading this. But from what little I have managed to dredge up… Our clan is not the only one with outbreaks. There doesn't seem to be any correlation of points of origin and no one can detect the cysts until they mature, at which point they spray material over anyone who gets close." Iriana shook her head. "Almost as if they wanted an untraceable vector. But that makes no sense. No human today has the means to make such things and no Tenno _would_."

"That is a biological weapon." Karen mused and then froze as the message continued.

"The clan is with you, Karen." Iriana smiled a bit forlornly. "Please don't do anything rash. We will figure this out and we have managed to warn everyone what to look for, for all the good that does. Stay safe, sister."

The holo terminal deactivated and beeped to warn Karen that the message was about to be wiped for its memory. She okayed that and stood there, thinking hard.

Tenno fought the Technocyte infestations. It was what they did. What they had done throughout their history. What kind of a Tenno would use it as a weapon?

Use the _Technocyte Virus_ …

As a _weapon_!

Karen all but ran from the room shouting for Rachel. She didn't have to look far. The leader of the First was just outside, apparently waiting for Karen to finish her message. She was not in her warframe and her face was grim.

"Karen?" Rachel asked carefully. Karen had been very upset with both the Leader and the doc for what had been done to Indigo J-05.

"What have you found on my warframe?" Karen asked rapidly. "Have you dissected that cyst thing?"

"Whoa. Slow down." Rachel held up both hands in a warding gesture. "I know you are upset with me. With _reason,_ I might add." She said sadly. "Indigo J-05 came through fine. She is sleeping and will be for a while. She needs it."

"She sensed something off about me." Karen said after calming herself for a moment. "You all say I am clean, but she sensed something. I wasn't kind to her."

"You have been stressed about the outbreak. Add to that this whole shameful scenario." Rachel said quietly. "Suno is rather irate with me too. Ona is trying to calm her down. You deserve to have me do the same for you."

"Rachel, I am not the _only_ one spreading these things." Karen said with a gulp. Rachel stared at her and then swallowed hard herself. "We have an outbreak and _Tenno_ are spreading it."

"That is not _possible_!" Rachel declared. "No _Tenno_ would-" She broke off as Karen raised a hand. "Karen?"

"You are right." Karen looked at the wall for a moment. "No Tenno would. Thing is… When we beat Nef Anyo in his own Index and returned the Triuna to her colony, they offered us an Old War relic. We would have declined, but they insisted. The relic was a warframe, but not one I had ever seen before. None of my team had. We all took the schematics. They were odd, but usable."

"An Old War relic." Rachel stiffened and then her visible face slowly paled. "No..."

"Who _else_ used Infestation as a _weapon_ , Rachel?" Karen pleaded. " _Tenno_ certainly wouldn't have. We _know_ better!"

"Oh crap." Rachel gave herself a hard shake, her face firming. "You think the Orokin did this?"

"I don't know." Karen admitted. "They are the only ones I can think of though. Alad V's madness aside, not even Tengus has spread the mess intentionally." She growled. "Not that they needed to do it intentionally, stupid Grineer."

"No argument from me." Rachel heaved a sigh. "If that relic _was_ infectious…" She trailed off for a moment and then focused on Karen again. "How many Tenno with you?"

"Three." Karen was back on firm ground. "I have their names. The Lotus will have their clan information. Rachel, if all _four_ of us were all touched by this, we have massive problems. Each of us went our separate ways. I had three other missions before going to the Relay. Each with full teams."

"Oh my god." Rachel swallowed hard and then looked at the ceiling. "Lotus!"

"I heard." A holo of the Lotus appeared beside Rchel, her face set in a grim line. "I have been contacting each Tenno who was on the mission with Karen. Two of them have shown cysts. The other has disappeared." Karen and Rachel both hissed and the Lotus nodded. "The signs are not good. He was on a long infiltration and I lost his downlink. We are trying to find him. The numbers match."

"How many, Lotus?" Karen begged. "How _many_ have I infected? Have _we_ infected?"

"I do not know exactly." The Lotus said sadly. "But the numbers are high. Even if we quarantine all Tenno who wear warframes, the chance of a cyst getting past our quarantines is too high to ignore. If they were designed to do this, then we may have an extinction level event. This is suboptimal. We need to act or we may lose everything."

"Could this be why the Sentients wanted Indigo J-05?" Karen asked. The Lotus looked away for a moment before shaking her head.

"She is not infected." The Lotus said quietly. "Probabilities say it is involved somehow, but she is not a direct vector. I have spread the word, get the Tenno involved in checking each other for the nasty things. We can remove them, but not easily. Falcon and Iriana are examining the ones they found and they are forwarding everything they find to all other Tenno medical personnel. But you are right, Karen. This looks more and more like an Orokin weapon."

"Spreading the virus anywhere they move." Karen slumped a bit. "And not detectable, so the Sentients had no way of protecting their thralls."

"Most of them wouldn't have bothered anyway." The Lotus' face was a horrible thing now. "Human slaves were expendable. We have to stop this."

"But how?" Karen asked. "I mean… I am no doc but I learned a bit. Technocyte infestation can be cured now but if the source of this outbreak is still out there, then it will continue to spread." Karen paused as both Rachel and the Lotus looked at her. "What?" Rachel and the Lotus looked at one another for a long moment and then they shared a nod. To Karen's amazement, the Lotus vanished. Karen stared at the other Tenno before speaking. "Rachel?"

"Indigo J-05's tests are done." Rachel said quietly. "We have every ounce of information we could possibly get from her ability. We have done every scan we could. You were right. This will have broken her after what Nikis brought us. It was wrong, what we did to her. But it was needed. We would do it again if the situation came up the same, but it won't. Not now. We can help her. Make her better. But to do that, we could use your help."

"I am no doc." Karen protested.

"No." Rachel smiled a little forlornly. "She doesn't need a doc. You are stuck here for the foreseeable future and we do not want you bored. You are strong and despite your misgivings at times, a good Tenno. You have been where she is, Karen. You have been broken. You came back from it."

"But..." Karen started and then cut herself off. That was nothing less than the truth. "I cannot do to her what was done to me."

"No." Rachel smiled. "She couldn't possibly get the same satisfaction out of beating the snot out of Mag." Karen couldn't help it,. She barked a laugh in memory, although at the time, it hadn't been funny at all. Having an ancient Tenno spirit possess her had hurt her very badly.

"Heard about that, did you?" Karen asked with a wince. Rachel chuckled.

"Oh yes." The leader of the First said with a grin. "Mag was a pain when she was alive. Her shade is nothing if not the same. Karen, we don't need Indigo J-05 psychoanalyzed or healed. We need her occupied. Her mind will heal, in time. But she will need help. Suno has offered."

"I don't see what good I can do." Karen protested halfheartedly. "I am just a Tenno."

"A Tenno who was human once." Rachel laid her hand on Karen's arm gently and Karen forced a shiver into submission. "A woman who had horrific violations done to her. A woman who came back from that horror, who bounced back into a strong and capable Tenno warrior."

"Didn't have a choice with Jac and Aeron prodding me." Karen said with a gulp. "Although the Trial was no joke either."

"No." Rachel shared Karen's shiver. Then again, the Tenno Trial was designed to force the aspirants to face the worst parts of themselves. "Karen, Indigo J-05 will need time to come to grips with her new situation. We can and will help her. But I think she can help us too. The document that she found, the one that started this all?" She looked at Karen who nodded dubiously. "It pertained to the First Tenno and his first apprentices. Nyx and Mag."

"What do you mean?" Karen asked, confused.

"From what we have been able to determine, the time before the founding of Orokin was not a pleasant one for Tenno. There were many who called them -us- monsters, or tried to use us in their conflicts both petty and major." Rachel let her hand drop and shook her head again. "The report is in an ancient and forgotten language called 'English', but it used code words that none of us knew. We inquired and a few of the shades knew more. Thing is, she shouldn't have been able to read it. And she _could_."

"Really?" Karen stared at the other Tenno and then at the floor. "I don't see what that has to do with me."

"She needs a focus besides her past and her pain." Rachel said quietly. " _You_ need something to do. You are capable of defending yourself or reining her in if needed. She is smart and focused on history. She can never leave this place, Karen. You know this."

"Yeah." Karen bowed her head. "Better this than whatever the Sentients wanted her for."

"True." Rachel started for the door, motioning Karen to follow and the younger Tenno did. "Thing is, we _can_ use her. There is much history here that has been forgotten. Other bits that have been lost. She has a passion for archaeology although the Corpus never encouraged that."

"I thought she was a soldier." Karen followed Rachel through corridors that were incredibly similar. If not for Rachel's guidance, Karen wouldn't have been able to find her way through this ancient bastion of Tenno power. Certainly not easily or quickly.

"She fought." Rachel mused. "Not that she had a chance against one Sentient, let alone _two_. But at her basic level, she was a teacher. The Corpus Educators are teachers, they refine the training that Corpus receive in Indoctrination." Karen looked sidelong at Rachel and the elder Tenno nodded. "Yeah I know."

The Corpus had brainwashing down to a science. They called it 'Indoctrination' and no one came out of their clutches unchanged.

"What do we tell her?" Karen asked after a moment. "I assume she will be restrained with that inhibitor for the rest of her life."

"Yes." Rachel sighed. "That is non-negotiable. We cannot take the chance. But she does deserve to know the truth. If it is too much, we can do a mindwipe, but even then..."

"The ability won't disappear." Karen finished for Rachel when the leader of the First broke off. "I hate this, Rachel. Fighting an enemy is one thing. This is something else."

"I know." Rachel's tone held self disgust and pain. "We do need to research what she found. How she found it and where. She can help with that."

"If she chooses to." Karen mused. Rachel nodded. "You think she will?"

"I do." Rachel slumped a bit. "Being kidnapped and mind wiped for being in the wrong place at the wrong time is a horror. Then attacked by the Sentients. What I have done to her will hurt her more. But we can and will help. You can help her if you wish to."

"Will you tell her the rest?" Karen asked.

"Only if she asks." Rachel replied instantly. "She had a life before the Corpus. She had a life _in_ the Corpus. She had a promising future despite everything. Then it was taken from her because of the Sentients. My concern is that the timing seems a bit too convenient. For Olim's team and a Sentient strike force to arrive at the same time seems a bit too much like they were set up. Or she was."

"By who? The report she sent to her superiors about pre Orokin text might have galvanized everyone, but who could have coordinated such?." Karen said slowly. Rachel nodded. "That started all of this. But… why?"

"I don't know." Rachel admitted. "If the Lotus knows, she is not telling."

"So… you want me to work with Indigo J-05?" Karen asked, concerned. Rachel nodded and the younger Tenno sighed. "I still don't think I will be much help to her."

"She will be weak for some time." Rachel replied as they entered a private hospital style room. In it. Indigo J-05 slept, Suno sitting beside her bed. "I would like you both to stay with her. She will need help to recover. And no. Now that I am done, no one else will ever demand she do that again. You were right, what we did to her was wrong on so many levels. But it was needed. I take responsibility for her hurts and for her recovery. I ask that the two of you aid her as you can. She is in perfect health, physically anyway. But she will need time to recover. Time we can and will give her."

"I would be honored." Suno said quietly, her gaze on the slumbering human. "But there is something odd happening. She is not in REM sleep, but she is dreaming."

"Oh?" Rachel moved tot he bedside, scrutinizing readout that made no sense to Karen. For her part, Karen moved to one wall, out of the way."That shouldn't be possible."

"An imposed dream?" Suno asked, concern rising.

"Eh… maybe." Rachel shook her head. "None of us are dream specialists. We haven't had- Karen?" She asked as Karen stepped forward.

"I have had some experience with dreams, both good and bad." Karen said quietly. "Tell me, Rachel. Did you have the plans for the psychiatric hoods?"

"The ones used in the sanitarium before it was destroyed?" Rachel asked, her face intent. Karen nodded. "We do. Why?"

"If she is not in REM sleep, then this isn't a dream." She touched Indigo J-05's hand gently but nothing happened. "Which means someone has pulled her into another scenario like before. The one based on the movie."

"And?" Rachel pressed.

"And the only reason she didn't die as a result of denying the end of that test or whatever it was, is still not something we understand." Karen said flatly. "Roger said he had no idea how she survived the neural trauma. A human could not survive such. So… Either Indigo J-05 isn't human or she had help."

"She is human." Rachel said with a grimace. "Every scan agrees. To the ninth decimal place, she is human."

"Then she had help."


	14. Chapter 14

**Tests**

Indigo J-05 was moving through a fog. She wasn't sure what was happening or why. She couldn't remember what had happened. She remembered pain, fear, loss and... The rest refused to come. She was crying and she did not know why.

 _It is not your fault._

The words were not aloud. She couldn't see or her anything. The voice wasn't anyone she knew. It was male for one things and she… She…

 _Do not push it._ The male talking to her was gentle, but also adamant. _You can and will hurt yourself Indigo._

"That is not my name." Indigo J-05 said with a half sob, half snarl. She was walking, but she couldn't see to where.

 _Yes it is._ The other had to be close by for her to hear, but she couldn't see anything. Not even the surface under her feet. _Or, it_ _is_ _ **now**_ _. You do not remember. They took your memory. A kindness from people who are rarely kind. I am sorry. I failed you._

"What?" Indigo J-05 was confused.

 _You are not alone, Indigo._ The voice said gently. _I hope you do not remember any of it, but if you do, know that you are not alone. The First are hard, but fair. They hurt you, but they had to. Now? You can heal. You can make a new life for yourself._ _They will help you as they can._ _But to do that, you may have to face what happened. We may never meet again, but you will be in my thoughts._ _Be well._ _I will pray for you, human Indigo._

Before Indigo J-05 could reply, she was falling.

She landed on her back in a pile of something. It wasn't hard, far from it. But an odd coughing noise from nearby had her looking up to see a huge four legged form eyeing her from a corner of the room. The room too was odd. The walls were made of a material that seemed to be thin slats of some kind. Moving light shone through lines between the slats. Or she was moving. The floor was shifting under her, but not enough to make her unsteady. But all of that paled as the huge creature yawned and then rose to all four of its clawed feet,. It had a _lot_ of very impressive teeth and a massive growth of hair around its shoulders. Was this a 'lion'? She had read of them, but never seen an image.

A quick glance showed she was wearing boots and some kind of pants made of vegetable matter. She was unarmed, but a whip hung on a pillar nearby. Before the creature could take another step, she swarmed to her feet and grabbed the whip. It wasn't like her trusty Lecta. Indeed, it was more like the thing she had used in the test/dream/whatever the thing she had been in before. She cracked the whip and the creature retreated a step. Then it opened its mouth and roared. She cracked the whip again and it retreated.

"Okay." Indigo J-05 looked around, not quite taking her eyes off the creature. "How do I get out of here?" She stiffened as a panel moved on the ceiling and hand reached down for her. The face that hung over it was familiar! Karen!

"I don't think you want to be lunch today. Jump!" Karen's voice was taut and Indigo J-05 jumped even as the creature roared again and charged.

The other grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her up and out even as the creature below roared again in angry disappointment. Indigo J-05 held onto the whip even as Karen pulled her up onto the surface of… What _was_ this surface?

She didn't know the material she was standing on. The rectangular surface _was_ moving. She could see green on either side of the platform she and Karen were standing on. But none of the images she saw made nay sense to her. White things with both parallel and horizontal slats? Buildings that were made of something other than metal? She was…

"Down!" Karen pulled Indigo J-05 to the surface of the platform they were standing on and Indigo J-05 stared as a metal _thing_ passed over them with centimeters to spare. It went by too fast to see anything about it. Karen shook her head. "Stay down. At this speed, getting hit by one of those will hurt."

"What the hell is this?" Indigo J-05 demanded.

"You are in another movie." Karen replied quietly. "Or, _we_ are. Whoever designed these tests was a certified wacko." Indigo J-05 stared at the other. Karen wore some kind of uniform that did not suit her in the slightest. Karen just shrugged. "I know. It doesn't make any sense. Just roll with it. We need to finish this test. Although why _you_ are being tested, I have no idea."

"How are you here?" Indigo J-05 was trying to comprehend this. It made no sense.

"I owed you an apology." Karen replied. "I bent a few rules. You need the help. I have someone on the outside researching this as we speak, so I can help. But this test is for you. If you intentionally fail it like you did the last one, it will almost certainly kill you this time."

"I don't _understand_!" Indigo J-05 wailed.

"I know." Karen said with a sigh as she held Indigo J-05. "Neither do I but I want to help if I can." She stiffened as other people appeared on the platform, four large and dirty male humans. "Well crap."

"Give it back!" One of them declared, setting himself into a fighting stance.

But that was the last thing that went right for him. Before Indigo J-05 could move, _Karen_ was in the midst of the quartet. It was almost as if they couldn't see her or something. She was _good_ with her hands and feet. Each of the newcomers took one hit before flying off the moving platform to vanish.

"What the hell?" Indigo J-05 was falling and then she landed in something that went 'splut'. The surface she was on moved underneath her and then she screamed as thin things swarmed all over her. She flailed and thrashed as the things slid everywhere through her loose clothing. She kicked out and something went crack. Nothing was hurting her, she was just surrounded by… by…

This wasn't _real_! And if _it_ wasn't...

"Reset." Indigo J-05 said flatly and everything around her vanished. Karen landed beside her as Indigo J-05 sat up and stared around at walls that were composed of golden code. "Karen? This is a virtual simulation."

"Sort of." Karen sighed and squatted on her heels beside the woman. "We are inside your mind. You are dreaming. You shouldn't be with all of the drugs in you, but you _are_. Another test like the one you faced before. But why? I have no idea."

"Rachel said that should have killed me, what I did." Indigo J-05 said weakly. Karen nodded and the human slumped a bit but then she hissed. "And you are here? No! You can't be here!"

"Indigo J-05, you need help." Karen reassured the human. "I am here. I am offering. I have an assistant outside of this setup who can search for whatever these odd dreams are connected to. We have found references to movies. Ancient entertainment media."

"Ancient _entertainment_?" Indigo J-05 demanded. Then she slumped a bit. "That makes..." She paused and sighed. "I guess I should just roll with it like you said."

"Trying to understand things that defy understanding is pointless." Karen agreed. "Well done though. You threw the simulation for a loop."

Both women gulped as the world changed around them. They were suddenly in cave, stalactites and stalagmites all around mixed with odd, hideous decorations. Indigo J-05 could not bite back a scream as Karen was lifted into the air and somehow attached to a metal framework or box of some kind. A human in an odd horned helmet was chanting as he speared fingers at her chest, but Karen just sighed and flexed her muscles. The metal framework seemed to groan and then she was free, backhanding the human away.

"I do _not_ need to be lowered into a lava pit today, thank you _very_ much, you wacko. And my _heart_ is my _own!_ " Karen kicked the human as he tried to recover and he fell into the pit, screaming.

"I don't think this test can handle you too." Indigo J-05 said with a grin as the area around them turned to gray haze.

"Well, I would hope not." Karen shrugged a little. "My sensei would be very upset with me if I couldn't handle myself in such situations."

"Another 'movie'?" Indigo J-05 asked carefully.

"Yeah." Karen took hold of Indigo J-05's hand as the haze became thick enough that it was impossible to see further than a few centimeters. "The tests you have been working through are all based on the same series of movies. Fun ones, but ancient."

"What is the premise?" Indigo J-05 asked as the haze seemed to tighten around them. "There has to be a reason I am running through this, even if I cannot figure it out."

"Eh..." Karen paused and then chuckled a little. "My contact says it is about an archaeologist who is a bit more than an academic."

"Archaeology is the study of artifacts left by previous civilizations." Indigo J-05 mused and Karen's hand gave hers a twitch. "But I was never interested in that." She paused. "Was I?"

"You were." Karen said softly and Indigo J-05 froze at the pain in the others voice. "You were very interested in the civilizations that had come before."

"How do you know that?" Indigo J-05 asked tightly. "Did you know me… before?"

"Before the Corpus? No." Karen sighed. "I was a prisoner and slave when you joined the Corpus." Indigo J-05 went totally still at that. "It was a long hard road to where I am now and I backslide occasionally."

"And you are telling me this because I will never be able to tell anyone else." Indigo J-05 understood that.

"Indigo J-05..." Karen gave her hand a twitch. Her tone was reasonable. "The ability you have is too dangerous to let loose. You know this. You do not want to use it and I can sympathize. But we cannot remove it or cage it further without killing you. And that would be a waste."

"Why are you suddenly so nice?" Indigo J-05 demanded. This wasn't like the woman she had met before.

"Because I have been where you are." Karen did not react to the spike of anger. "I know what it is like to have your life suddenly upended. I did not react well when it happened to me. I tried to die and instead, wound up where I am." The haze around them faded and they were standing in the golden walled room again. "We found the Corpus records that were made when you were Indoctrinated. They did a full mindscan. They got everything you were. They used that information to brainwash you into serving them."

"Who was I?" Indigo J-05 asked. Karen would not meet her eyes and the human snarled at her. "Who was I?"

"You were an archaeologist. I can't tell you the rest. You are not ready." Karen said quietly. "No! Don't let go!" She cried as Indigo J-05 snatched her hand out of the others grip even as Karen tried to clamp down.

But Indigo J-05 was free and the gray haze took hold of her even as Karen called her name. The sound faded quickly.

 _An archaeologist…_ Indigo J-05 mused as she gyrated through whatever was holding her. _Well, I guess this makes some sense now if this movie thing is about one. Not much._

Without sense of transition, Indigo J-05 was standing in a cave again, but this one was different. The natural rock formations were eclipsed by stone walls that had been carved. There were no decorations, but it all looked ancient. She glanced around quickly, but no one else was present. Then she gasped as Karen fell to the floor, blood pooling from her abdomen.

"Karen!" Indigo J-05 exclaimed and fell to her knees beside the other. But Karen was unconscious. "What have I done? You were trying to help and you were right. I am not ready." She said weakly. "I need to help you, but I am no medic. Reset." She called, hoping to change the simulation but nothing happened and she called louder. " _Reset_ damn it!"

There was no answer and Indigo J-05 snarled at herself. She couldn't help Karen, so she had to finish this test. That would put them both out of this odd mindscape thing. Somehow.

"Good job, Indigo J-05..." She berated herself as she rose from Karen's still form and started alone the path laid out in front of her. "You left behind the _only_ source of information you _had_! Think. This has to have a solution. The other one did too. I just failed it on purpose."

She went totally still as the will in front of her lit up with golden words she couldn't understand. But she _could!_ Somehow. A language called 'English'

"'Only the penitent will pass'?" Indigo J-05 snapped. 'Oh, come _on_! _Riddles_ now? Sheesh!" She shook her head and jerked as something came flying out of the darkness ahead of her. It rolled to a stop beside her feet and she gasped as she realized it was a severed head. The human male wore a look of surprise and terror. She swallowed bile and took another step, sternly ordering her eyes to ignore the macabre thing at her feet. "Okay, okay… The word 'penitent' in English means 'humble'. No. No that is not right." She fought to remember as she took another step, slow, careful. Her feet touched something and she stopped short. "Penitent means to be repentant. To show that one is aware of mistakes made and feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong. But still…"

She was not surprised at what she had stumbled into. A headless body. That head had to have come from somewhere after all. She stared at the body at her feet and then, on some impulse she didn't quite understand, fell to her knees. Just in time. Something whirred over her head. She would have frozen, but somehow, the floor shifted and she was rolling forward even as something else tore through where she had just been.

"Holy frack." Indigo J-05 kept rolling even as her shoulder and back hurt. But nothing else happened. No more of the things came out of nowhere to rip her to pieces. She stared at the wall as more golden words appeared on it.

'Seek facts, not truth.'

"What the hell?" Indigo J-05 demanded angrily as she rose to her knees. The golden words pulsed once and vanished. "This doesn't make any sense!" She yelled at the stone walls. Nothing happened and she slumped a bit. This wasn't helping her or Karen.

She took another step and then another when nothing else happened. Then she came to a doorway of some kind. There was no door in it, but it was clear that it was a transition point of some kind. The floor in the room ahead ahead of her was odd. The marking on it were very strange. It seemed to be random letters in English. She looked around, but the walls were smooth and bare, the ceiling likewise. There was nothing to throw and she bet that this was the next test. But she had _no_ idea what to do.

There really didn't seem to be any other choice. She took a slow step and placed her foot on a stone marked 'X'. She screamed as her foot shattered the stone and went right through it. It was all she could do to jump back as the stone bits fell a long, long way down. She didn't want to look to see how far.

"X marks the spot. Got it." Indigo J-05 said softly. "But..." She stared at the just on the stones. Some of them had been disturbed. Others were pristine. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that all of the 'X's were pristine and there were a _lot_ of them. Indeed, most if the floor was 'X's. She stared at the stone closest to her that was scuffed as if someone had stepped on it. It was marked 'I'. Before she could tell herself that it was a bad idea, she placed her right foot on the stone marked 'I' and it held her weight. Before she could stop herself, she was moving along the stones that were not marked with X. She had a bad moment on the second I, but she caught her balance even as a stone crumbled under her left toes and continued. I, N, D, I, A, N, A. She had no idea what that meant.

It seemed an eternity but before she knew it, she was standing on unmarked floor, gasping for breath. She stared back across the danger zone and shook her head.

"This almost feels familiar." Indigo J-05 said weakly. "But I do not remember it. Did I do this before?" Of course, there was no answer. Part of her really missed Karen. The rest of her knew she had to finish this.

She gave herself a shake and started off again. She kept her eyes on the floor and walls in equal measure, wary of more traps. But then the path ended. She stared at the gaping chasm that spread out across as far as her eyes could see and she shook her head savagely. She saw another hole just like the doorway she stood in cut into wall across the way, but… There was no bridge, no way across. The only things she could see was an English word carved into the wall beside her at head height.

'Courage'

"You have _got_ to be _kidding_ me!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Bravery**

After a moment of venting her anger, Indigo J-05 stood by the precipice and leaned out to scrutinize the abyss carefully. She couldn't see the bottom. She looked to either side and there was no ledge, no way to go except forward, which was a death sentence. She stared at the lit doorway across the way and it beckoned to her, but she couldn't jump the chasm. She didn't think even a Tenno would be able to jump that distance, it had to be at least thirty meters across and probably closer to fifty. No human ever born could jump that far and even if she managed that somehow? How could she guide the leap to land in the doorway and not go splat on the wall beside it? No. There had to be another way.

She stared up, but there were no ropes, wires or anything to grab onto on the wall around the doorway she was in. Nothing except the word carved into the wall.

'Courage'

"Courage." Indigo J-05 snarled halfheartedly as she sat down to think. She always did her best thinking while sitting. "I have never been a very brave person. I mean, I served the Company bravely, but I was trained to do that. I always looked for a way to win that involved the least amount of risk. This is not a small risk." She nodded to the abyss. "I try to jump that and I am going to die."

For just a moment, she bowed her head. She was tired. So tired. If she fell asleep or died in this whatever it was, she was sure that it wouldn't be good for her.

"You are wrong about being brave." A new voice had Indigo freezing as a human woman simply appeared beside her. The woman had dark hair and dark eyes, but her features were ancient, alien almost. _Was_ she human? "You are so wrong. Here and now, strictures have been loosened, Indigo J-05. I cannot do it for you, but Karen was quite eloquent in pleading your case. She feels we owe you and she has a point. She cannot help you now, as locked into the scenario as she is. She asked for help and I… I too feel that you are owed."

"Who are you?" Indigo J-05 was listless now. She should be afraid, she should be wary. She was just too tired to muster the energy for those.

"My name is Nyx." The other said gently as she knelt in front of Indigo J-05. Indigo looked at her and the newcomer smiled. "Yes, I am Tenno. Like Rachel. Like Karen."

"Figured she was." Indigo J-05 surprised herself with a chuckle. "She is scary as hell."

"I am trying not to be." Nyx said quietly. "You have had a bad day. A bad _week_." The other corrected herself a bit grimly. "Thing is, you are trying very hard not to be pragmatic or evil. I can respect that."

"This power that I have is wrong." Indigo J-05 was crying now and Nyx took her into gentle arms, holding her as Indigo J-05 sobbed.

"More than you know." Nyx's voice was soft, soothing as she held the crying human. "Indigo J-05, you are not going to remember it all. You cannot. The Corpus wiped your memory. Because what they found _horrified_ them."

"What?" Indigo J-05 stiffened and Nyx let her retreat a little.

"You were found by a Corpus archaeological survey." Nyx said quietly. "The things that had been done to you horrified them all. They called in the Clergy, both to find out what happened and to see if you could be salvaged. The Clergy managed both although it took them a while. They are rarely gentle or kind with unknowns, but in this case, they were. You have a life now. You have a future. You don't need or _want_ to know what happened to you before the Corpus."

"Will I keep having these _things_ happen?" Indigo J-05 waved at the walls around her, indicating the odd scenario she was stuck in.

"Maybe." Nyx sighed as Indigo J-05 gave a small cry and hugged herself tight. "Thing is, you can learn to handle them. Humans are infinitely adaptable, a fact that the Orokin learned over and over again. You can go on. You can prevail over this. You can be more than the ones who hurt you wanted you to be."

"Hurt…? me…?" Indigo J-05 said weakly.

"You didn't do this to yourself, Indigo J-05." Nyx said gently. "Your curiosity got you in trouble, but there was no malice in your heart. There still isn't." Indigo J-05 stiffened and Nyx smiled at her. "My powers are of the mind, Indigo J-05. I too have difficulty with control at times, so I understand better than many where you are and where you can go."

"What do I do?" Indigo begged.

"I cannot pull you out of here without killing you." Nyx warned. "As weak as you are from the other things, you would not recover. If you want me to, even knowing you will die, I will. We do owe you for what happened. I don't want to. I think I would like you." Indigo J-05 quirked a tiny smile at that but then looked out across the abyss. "Yes. Going forward will end the scenario, allow you to exit and go on with your life. But be warned, you will _not_ like what you find even without all the context that you are denied."

"Is Karen all right?" Indigo J-05 asked slowly.

"Madder than hell at being stuck in the scenario's coils, but not harmed." Nyx shook her head. "Girl has a temper."

"You don't say!" Indigo J-05 smiled as Nyx quirked a grin at her and then bowed her head. "I am afraid."

"You have a right to it." Nyx laid a hand on Indigo J-05's arm, a gentle, calming touch. "More than you will ever know. Your memories are gone and good riddance." She shook her head. "I don't like the idea of taking someone's memories, it seems cruel to me. But in many ways, what happened to you _was_ a kindness."

"Will anyone else be hurt if I…" Indigo J-05 gulped and continued. "If I fall?"

"No." Nyx promised. She looked away for a moment and then back at Indigo. "The choice is yours."

"I don't want to die." Indigo J-05 said quietly. "I want to live."

"Then live." Nyx said and then folded her hands in her lap.

Indigo J-05 looked at the silent Tenno and then at the abyss. She rose to her feet slowly. She ached all over, as if she had been in a fight. She nodded to the Tenno and turned to face the darkness. She took one step to the edge of the precipice and then, she closed her eyes and took another. She gave a small 'eep' as her foot found a solid purchase. Her eyes flew open and she stared down at… the wall across the way. No. The surface underneath her foot was _painted_ to match the wall across the way! It was an illusion! She was standing on a solid surface! She turned to stare at Nyx, but the Tenno was gone.

"Holy crap." Indigo J-05 muttered as she took another step and then another. She didn't dare look aside as she strode towards the beckoning light ahead. It was getting brighter and brighter as she approached, far too bright to be a cave. "What the?"

The corridor past the doorway was _not_ a natural cave. The brown walls and dark patterned floor were illuminated by white lights set into a ceiling that was gray panes of some kind. It wasn't any structure that Indigo J-05 had ever seen or read about. The walls looked ancient but well maintained. All that paled however.

The corridor ended a few meters from the doorway where the abyss still yawned. A huge armored door was set across the corridor and there was no access point, no way to open it that Indigo J-05 could see. The only thing on it was a symbol painted on the metal that she did not know. Or _did_ she?

It was a rectangle. It had thirteen horizontal stripes alternating red and white. In the upper left corner, the stripes were replaced by a smaller rectangle. The blue field had many white five pointed stars in it. She didn't know that symbol. But there was something about it. She reached out to touch it and-

* * *

Indigo J-05 coughed and then retched. She was lying on something soft and she hurt in _so_ many ways.

"She is reacting!" An urgent voice sounded from nearby as hands took hold of her head and turned it to one side, She expelled into something that had been placed just in time and she could do nothing but let her body do as it wished. "Roger!"

"One anti-nauseant, ready to go." A hiss sounded and Indigo J-05's stomach quieted. "There. She will need time. Good work Karen, Suno. She will be sore and confused. But she will be okay. I better leave before she is fully awake. She will be mad at me."

"She has cause." That was Karen's voice. She sounded upset, but not hurt. "Go on. We have this."

"Karen?" Indigo J-05 asked through a tongue that felt far too large for her mouth. "You all right?"

"Was going to ask you that." Karen chuckled little mirthlessly. "Leaving me behind was _dumb_."

"Yeah." Indigo J-05 agreed through the muzziness in her head. "Sorry. Wasn't thinking clearly." She took several deep breaths. "What happened? I was… It was… I can _almost_..." She fought to pull the memory back up, but two very different hands gripped hers tightly,

"Indigo J-05, stop." Karen said sternly. "Pushing this will do no good at all. You already had two seizures. We do not want you to have any more."

"Seizures?" Indigo J-05 said weakly. That explained why so much of her body hurt. "It was another scenario thing. I… I think I made it through."

"You did." Karen reassured her.

"I was…" Indigo J-05 worked to unfuddle the memories that she had. They did not become any clearer. "There was someone else there. She called herself Nyx. She said this was done to me."

"It was." Suno said sadly and a tiny hand gave her left one a squeeze.

"Are they going to hurt me again?" Indigo J-05 pleaded.

"No." Karen reassured her. "The ones who hurt you are long gone. Nyx talked to you?"

"Yeah." Indigo J-05 said sadly. "She said it was kindness to let me forget."

"It was." Karen said savagely. "Indigo J-05, you were hurt by machines left over from a very long time ago. Pre-Orokin." Indigo J-05 stiffened at that, but Suno was rubbing her hand and she relaxed. "There were not any living beings there when the Corpus followed your tracks, looking for salvage. Few of the _machines_ were still functional after so long. They found you. We found the records of the survey team that discovered you. They didn't know what happened at first, where you had come from or what had been done to you. Not until they interrogated you. The Corpus are rarely kind, and this _was_ pragmatism in a way. They could use you and did. You do not want to remember, Indigo J-05. You _do not_. I wish I didn't know and no, I will never say more than I have."

"Is this ability I have due to my being hurt?" Indigo J-05 asked quietly.

"We don't know." Karen said with a sigh. "It was a long time ago and no records exist that we have been able to find except the Corpus ones. We may never know. But for now, you need to rest. All of the tests that could be done have been. Now? You need to recover your strength. We have a job for you when you feel up to it."

"A job?" Indigo J-05 asked, confused. "And… if I sleep..." She fought to keep from whining and almost succeeded.

"With Nyx's help, we are pretty sure that we have managed to isolate what causes the scenarios, Indigo J-05." Suno reassured her. "And if it _does_ happen again? You will not face these things alone. Karen and I are here for you and Nyx has pledged her aid. You impressed her. That is not easy to do."

"I see." Indigo J-05 said weakly. "I am tired. But I am also afraid."

"I know." Karen said quietly. "The feelings won't go away but you can learn to deal with them. I know what it is to be broken, Indigo J-05. I know what it is to be a thing to people. I am not a thing. _You_ are not a thing. Say it. Say 'I am not a thing'."

"I am not a thing?" Indigo J-05 queried. "Is it that simple?"

"I wish." Karen chuckled humorlessly. "I am still working through my own problems. But I have help and now? So do you. I know a pair of top flight mental specialists who have pledged their aid. But that is for tomorrow. For tonight? You sleep."

"But… I..." Indigo J-05 was fading and she smiled a bit forlornly as she gave in and lay back. "Bunch of tyrants..."

Was it her imagination that Karen spoke in a soft voice as the human fell into dreamless sleep?

'Only with those we love'

* * *

Karen left Suno to stay with Indigo J-05 and stalked out of the room, her face a mask. She closed the door carefully and made sure the soundproofing was activated. Only then, did she scream. She screamed until her throat hurt and then she started slamming her fists into the closest did that a few times and then jerked back as she saw blood on the wall. She stared at her hands, but they were healing already. One benefit of being an energy form in a body made for her to inhabit, very fast healing. She hit the wall again.

"I wish I could do that." Her voice preceded the shade of the First Nyx into view. She wore no warframe and her expression was sick. "I knew what they were capable of, but..." She bowed her head. "Hayden blames himself."

"How the hell could he have stopped them?" Karen snapped, still pounding the wall. "The facility was hidden from _everyone_ , so deep it survived the _Collapse_. Only when her team discovered the tunnel did anyone have any idea it was there. No one could have predicted that it was still there or the machinery survived and would activate when they breached the doors. It wasn't his fault, or your fault, or my fault. Certainly not Indigo J-05's fault. I just feel so helpless when she is screaming in her dreams. Pleading with the machines to stop. Even if she cannot consciously remember what they did, she feels it."

"Yeah." Nyx sighed deeply. "You do not want to know what Mag is saying right now. She was a Marine. Not a super patriot, but a believer. For _them_ to set up something like _this_ … She is madder than hell. This was targeted at us. The First. We were so focused on preventing Technocyte outbreaks that we ignored threats against us from other sources. This was one such trap and Indigo J-05 fell prey to it."

"We can't tell her." Karen said softly. Nyx shook her head. "She will be curious. Are all the records sealed?"

"Yes." Nyx replied with a frown. "Rachel is waiting for you. She has some more information on the outbreak. She is planning to take a team out to deal with it."

"She is." Karen stared at Nyx and fought hard to keep her face still. Silly that, Nyx was a mind reader.

"Most of us are unhappy with her choice, but it _is_ her responsibility. The focus of the First was always outbreaks." Nyx shrugged. "The Caretakers are in the loop as well. They are rather upset too."

"Indigo J-05 is going to push to find out what we know. It is just who she is. She cannot leave it when she gets the urge to satisfy her curiosity" Karen started walking, the shade keeping up with her easily. "We need to be sure that we have her occupied."

"We are not going to be able to, Karen." Nyx said heavily. "I have known her type before. Once they get a hold of a problem, it worries them until they can solve it. I have known a few who went mad trying to solve problems that have no solution."

"Nyx, we cannot let her find out." Karen said softly. Nyx did not reply and Karen sighed. "I don't want to take this to the Empress, but I can if you think that is needed."

"You know what Eliza will say, Karen." Nyx did not change inflection, but her disapproval came across clearly anyway. "She has already made her opinion on this woman quite clear. To her, Indigo J-05 is a threat to the Tenno. A threat that must be eliminated."

"Yeah." Karen's voice was very soft. "But here, Rachel is in charge."

"I do not want to see this go the ways it could, Karen." Nyx frowned. "Rachel is still angry about Richard and Bellina. About pushing her kin to isolate and falling prey to the machinations of the Ancient Enemy. She thinks she should have been better, seen it happening. Stopped it. She knows she couldn't and she is focused on her duty to the exclusion of all else. Eliza knows that. She won't push until and unless Indigo J-05 becomes a problem. If that happens, Eliza _will_ act. She may even order _you_ to do it."

"I know." Karen said sadly. "I don't want to. Indigo J-05 doesn't want to be a threat."

"Yeah." Nyx blew out a deep breath and nodded. "Right now, we need to find and squash this outbreak. Indigo J-05 isn't going anywhere."

"For the rest of her life." Karen muttered. Nyx pretended not to hear that. "Um..." Karen paused and then stared around herself. She shook her head. She was lost. A Tenno lost in the Citadel. Oh, if her clan heard about this, she would never hear the end of it. "A little help?"

Nyx shook her head and took the lead. She knew where they were going. As she walked, Nyx nodded slowly. "If Rachel asks as leader of the First, I can put a compulsion in Indigo J-05's mind to keep her from prying into her past. It won't hurt her and she will focus on her job."

"I think she will like it."


	16. Chapter 16

**Wrongs**

"You want me to do _what_?"

Indigo J-05 felt good this morning. She had woken after a blissfully uneventful sleep and with both Suno and Karen trying not to hover, had managed to get herself clean and eat a solid meal. Then she had focused on this 'job' that Karen had told her about. She had expected some kind of busywork or something. She wasn't trusted, not in the slightest in a hideaway filled with Tenno. Or so she had thought!

Instead of some kind of office where she was filing things or a room filled with stuff she had to clean, instead, she had been taken to a small room with a data terminal in it and three chairs surrounding it along with three workstations. Karen had guided her to a chair and started to explain.

They wanted her to do research!

"But..." Indigo J-05 managed to stammer as Suno started to work at her terminal. "I am human."

"So?" Suno had a nice grasp of human sarcasm. She was still in her warframe, Karen was not. Indigo J-05 wasn't sure if Suno could leave her warframe.

"So you cannot trust me!" Indigo J-05 said flatly.

"Indigo J-05..." Karen said with a small smile. "You really think we are going to take our eyes off of you? Leave you alone to ferret out secrets?"

"I..." Indigo J-05 thought about that for a moment and then had to smile at the sheer absurdity of that thought. "No. I guess not. If just because you are worried I will have another seizure." Suno and Karen nodded to that and the human relaxed. "What am I to do then?"

"You are a researcher and we need some research done. These are some of the oldest records in the Citadel." Suno said with a small frown in her voice. "Even if you could get them out of here, they wouldn't do you much good. No one wants such ancient and mostly useless secrets except Tenno. And…" She stepped talking as Indigo J-05 chuckled darkly.

"And trying to sell stolen Tenno secrets to _Tenno_ might not be so good for my health." Indigo J-05 shook her head in bemusement and then slowly reached out to clasp her hands and then cracked her knuckles loudly. "What are we looking for then?"

"In the very beginning, there were three. The First and two apprentices." Suno said softly. "You met one of them. What is left of her anyway." Indigo J-05's eyes went wide at that and she stared from Suno to Karen who nodded.

"I..." Indigo J-05 swallowed hard and then shook her head. "She was kind."

"Until you make her mad, yeah." Karen shivered dramatically and then smiled. "Thing is, we Tenno have always been focused on protecting humanity from outbreaks of the Technocyte Virus. Our role expanded during the Old War for a number of reasons."

"Including survival." Indigo J-05 said with a nod that Karen shared.

"Yeah." Karen grimaced. "Including survival. Thing it, we have another outbreak and no one is quite sure how it began. We are pretty sure we know when, but not how."

"Do these things have to have a reason?" Indigo J-05 asked carefully. "What I know of Infestation is a horror. But..." She paused. "Mishka, Elenia and Karl had an Ancient Infested when they gave me this" She fingered the cover that coated her left arm. "And it acted weird."

"The Caretakers are a statistical anomaly." Suno reassured her. "Karl isn't one, but he works with them fairly frequently. Don't judge Infested by them."

"So what am I looking for exactly?" Indigo J-05 asked as she brought up the files. She stared at the. The wording was in the language she had found before, English. She stared at the screen and then at the others who nodded. "You think I can read this?"

"You can." Karen said with a smile. "Suno and I have been practicing. But as you can see..." She brought up a screen and its image appeared hovering in mid air in between the three of them. "There is a lot of data."

Indigo J-05 whistled in awe. The layout was fairly simple. She thought that each file was set up by date. Or year maybe. At least, each file had a year in its title. But there were so _many_ of them. She stopped counting after four hundred files.

"How… many…?" Indigo J-05 asked weakly.

"No one has counted." Suno said softly. "But um… lots. Each of these folders covers an outbreak. Some are marked in years as humans told time before Orokin. Others by place and severity," Indigo J-05 opened the very first folder and stared as the text made sense to her. But what it said did not. Suno nodded. "Lasria. 1985-2008."

"Where is that?" Indigo J-05 asked, pulling up the file and starting to read. But what she found made her sick. "I… This..."

"The first recorded outbreak." Karen said quietly. "Not sure exactly where that was. Somewhere on Earth near the middle of the largest continent. Technically, that is two outbreaks, but there were no Tenno around during the first one."

"Then how was it _stopped_?" Indigo J-05 demanded, but instead of answering, Karen pulled up the files, showing pictures of horror. Indigo J-05 gagged at the images.

"It wasn't." Suno said sadly. "They _thought_ it was, but it wasn't. Not until 2008. Not until the First Tenno got involved." She chuckled sourly. "Not that he was what most think of as Tenno at first. He became far more than human because of the Virus." Indigo J-05 shifted through the horrific images until she settled onto a single image of a dark haired man wearing something that was almost a warframe. He had a Glaive in hand that was far more vicious looking than a normal Tenno one. Suno nodded. "Yes, that is him."

"I know him." Indigo J-05 said weakly. Both Karen and Suno stiffened at that. "But I don't know from where."

"You know him?" Karen asked, concerned.

"I… think?" Indigo J-05 said weakly. She gave an eep as Nyx appeared beside her. "Don't _do_ that!" She snapped as she fought to stay in her chair.

"Indigo J-05, may I touch you?" Nyx asked, her faceplate retracting, The face that shone underneath it was tight with worry.

"I...guess?" Indigo J-05 said weakly and the gasped as Nyx's insubstantial hand touched her forehead and passed right through her skull. Her eyes unfocused and she sat quietly while energy played around her head.

Neither of the others interrupted Nyx while she did what she did. Finally, the shade retracted her hand and sighed.

"Damn them." Nyx said savagely. "They were _aiming_ her at Hayden!"

"They were _what_?" Suno rose and moved to Indigo J-05's side, taking the woman's hands in her own. Checking with both sight and warframe sensors to be certain of the human's condition.

"Hayden was single." Nyx bowed her head. "After what happened in Lasria, he swore off relationships. He had to kill one who he had feelings for. It hurt him very badly. This… I can see images of Hayden from when he was an agent of the US government. Most of them are rather explicit. So I assume she was intended to try and seduce him. Then the controlling mechanisms that they implanted would have taken root in him. Wouldn't have worked. We were on guard for such things." She said sourly. "The memories are sequestered." She paused. "But I didn't do _this_..." She mused. She reached for Indigo J-05's head again.

 _NO! YOU WILL HURT HER!_

All three of the Tenno in the room recoiled as an angry voice slammed into them from Indigo J-05. It wasn't her, it was male for one thing. For another, it didn't sound like Tenno mental communication.

"What the-?" Karen was at Indigo J-05's side even as Suno brought up a number of tools to keep the woman under control. She would have spoken again, but Nyx raised a hand.

"Who am I speaking to?" Nyx asked quietly. "We will not hurt her except by accident."

 _She cannot remember. It would destroy her. Please._ The other begged.

"I do not want to hurt her." Nyx reassured the other. "Who are you?"

 _I am her_ _friend_ _._ _In her few moments of lucidity, she called me her son._ The other replied. All three of the Tenno in the room shared a look and the other continued. _She does not remember me. I made it that way to spare her the pain. She does not remember me and please do not make her!_ The other begged.

"According to her memories, she had no son." Nyx said with a hint of ice entering her voice.

 _She did not._ The other said sadly. _She had broken up with her boyfriend some time before the last expedition she planned. They had originally planned for children but it was not to be. I am not her child physically._ _We...merged._ _When she was hurt,_ _I woke up_ _. I tried to help her. I could not._

"Helping is always harder than hurting." Suno's tone held old pain and regret for a moment before smoothing. "So why are you here now?"

 _Part of me has always been with her._ The other said quickly. _I had hoped the_ _Clergy and then the_ _First could help her. Free her from me. She deserves better than to be bound to me for the rest of her life._

"This is why the Sentients wanted her, isn't it?" Karen demanded. Nyx looked at her and Karen shrugged.

 _I do not know._ The other replied, sounding uneasy. _I am bound to her and she to me. Please do not hurt her._ The naked entreaty in the words shook all three of the listeners.

"Have you been listening this whole time?" Karen asked when no one else spoke. There was no response and she snarled. "You are not inspiring trust."

 _There can be no trust between you and I, Tenno._ The other replied evenly. _We are what we are. Enemies. But she deserves better._

"Why do you say we are enemies?" Nyx demanded.

 _It wasn't just_ **humans** _who fell prey to that evil place, Tenno._ The the voice was gone. Indigo J-05 gasped and fell, Karen grabbing her and holding her up. Suno took hold and both laid the now shuddering woman on the floor and Nyx stepped back.

"Another seizure." Suno said weakly. "She is not responding to the normal treatments."

"Her body is _anything_ but normal after all that was done to her." Nyx said sadly. "Take care of her. I need to think on some things." She turned to go, courtesy was still deeply ingrained even as an energy form.

"Nyx. Wait." Karen rose quickly and turned to the shade who paused and looked at her. "That wasn't Infested." Nyx shook her head. "Not even one like the Caretaker's charges." Nyx shook her head again. "But you know what it was, don't you?"

"I am not sure, Karen." Nyx frowned. "It was very familiar, but the only other one who felt that like to me is gone. The memories are very old and I cannot be sure of any of them now. I will meditate on this, seek clarity."

"Can you tell us anything?" Karen pleaded. "If she has an Infested inside her mind..."

"Not an Infested, Karen." Nyx said with a sigh.

"An _Infected_."

* * *

 **An hour later**

" _Infected?_ " Rachel said when Karen finished her report. She was getting ready to go out and her warframe hummed its readiness. "Not Infested? I do not understand."

"Neither do I." Karen admitted. "Thing is, according to everything we have found, the two words in English mean different things. 'Infected' means a person has been exposed to and is showing the effect of a disease-causing organism. 'Infested' means to be present in large numbers, typically so as to cause damage or disease. Both of those _do_ apply for the Tenchocyte Virus."

"They do." Rachel said after a moment. "And now that I think about it, I remember some of the first Tenno records speaking of 'Infected' being a threat. I have always thought of the Infestation."

"Me too." Karen shrugged. "Terminology in ancient languages was never really my thing."

"How is Indigo J-05?" Rachel asked after a moment's additional thought.

"She had another seizure. Milder, but still bad. She is sleeping again." Karen heaved a sigh. "Suno will keep her that way for a bit. If she is Infested..."

"The Caretakers say she is not and they would know." Rachel replied. "So..." She sighed deeply. "She was intended to infiltrate here. To seduce _Hayden_? Idiots." She growled.

"According to most of what I was taught, they kept thinking he was human until he proved to them in no uncertain terms that he was not." Karen shrugged. "Rachel, she _is_ here now." Karen felt distinctly uncomfortable as Rachel's gaze landed on her. "She doesn't remember what happened and Nyx will make sure she won't. But if she _was_ intended to infiltrate this place, _can_ we keep her here?"

"Where else can she _go_?" Rachel asked softly. Karen bowed her head. "I won't throw her out to her death, Karen. I won't."

"Rachel, if she is intended to let enemies in here..." Karen pleaded. "We may need to stop her. Somehow."

"I know." Rachel said softly. She reached to the side and Karen's eyes went huge as the Saryn Prime warframe withdrew an Ether Sword from the arms locker next to her. She reversed it and held the hilt out to Karen who froze. "I do not want to saddle you with this burden. I want to stay here and help figure this out. But we are Tenno. An outbreak is our responsibility. We are Tenno."

"I..." Karen swallowed hard and took the offered hilt. "I am Tenno." She slid the sword to her back and it adhered. Even outside of warframes, Tenno often needed weapons, so all of their clothing had attachment points for weapons. She bowed her head further. "I do not want to kill her, Rachel."

"Ending her pain may be the merciful thing to do." Rachel said quietly. "But for now? Do not borrow trouble. She will be fine for a day or so according to Roger."

"She will sleep for at least eight hours with what Suno and Roger gave her." Karen agreed. "She needs it, badly. Rachel, did you ever find out where the Infestation came from?"

"Yes." Rachel said sourly. "It is in an Orbiter."

At that, Karen went totally still. Tenno craft were actually in two parts. The small and swift landing craft carried Tenno to where they were needed. Few saw the other parts of the ships. Many Tenno shared the large Orbiters, using them as mobile bases of operations. Karen's clan had four of them.

"So, the orbiter my cell used is contaminated and we contaminated all the others." Karen mused. Rachel nodded. "And the cysts came from there?"

"We are not entirely sure how." Rachel admitted. 'There is a door that we cannot open. _Yet_." Grim intent focused in that word. Said door _would_ open. One way or another. The only question was how much would be left of the Orbiter afterwards.

"What can I do to atone?" Karen asked quietly. Rachel looked at her and Karen shook her head. "I did this. Not intentionally, but I helped spread it. I caused harm. I need to help somehow."

"You are, Karen." Rachel said gently. "Here is a safe place for you and you are helping us. Never doubt that. Indigo J-05 can never leave, but you will eventually be able to. This will pass. The nuts who think you are to blame will find new targets and you can go back to doing what you do best."

"I hope so." Karen said with a small, sad smile as Rachel bowed formally to her. She returned it and then the Saryn Prime left the room, leaving Karen to stare after her. She started off towards Indigo J-05's room, but then paused as Nyx appeared nearby. "Nyx?"

"Karen." Nyx's voice was odd. Haunted almost. "It is as I feared. Indigo J-05 is clean of the Technocyte Virus. She is clean of Infestation."

"But?" Karen prodded cautiously when the other did not continue.

"But this goes back to the very beginning." Nyx sighed deeply and Karen went totally still as two more shades joined them. Hayden and Mag both nodded to her as she bowed formally. "Hayden faced the Infected in Lasria and triumphed."

"Barely." Hayden wasn't happy either.

"You won, they lost." Mag snapped. "Get over it, daddy dearest." Karen stared at Mag and then at Hayden who seemed to be fighting a smile. Mag looked at Karen and then shrugged as she looked at Nyx. "Better tell her. It comes better from you."

"I um...' For the first time since Karen had encountered the shade, Nyx seemed unsure. She blew out a deep breath. "After Lasria, Hayden went his own way. A few of us who had been infected but not altered into mindless beasts gathered around him." Karen nodded, she knew that. Some of it anyway. "Even then, there were those who wanted to use the Virus as a weapon."

"Who _did_." Mag snapped. Hayden laid a hand on her arm and she subsided.

"What happened?" Karen asked.

"I was captured by a group who were trying to use people like us as weapons." Nyx said sadly. "Trinity was captured at the same time, although she didn't take that name until later. I was hurt badly and they were going to lobotomize my sister. I was scared out of my mind and I was helped."

"Helped?" Karen breathed.

"Where do you think the warframes came from, Karen?" Nyx asked quietly.

"They were made by Tenno." Karen replied instantly. "By the First Tenno." She nodded to Hayden who shook his head. "What?"

"We made copies." Mag said softly, her own head bowed. "But the _first_ warframes were made _to_ us. Not _by_ us, _to_ us."

"I do not understand." Karen said weakly.

"We did not make them." Nyx replied.

"They were gifts."


	17. Chapter 17

**Standing**

"Gifts." Karen shook her head, confused even more by this. "Who would or could _gift_ a warframe and _why_?"

"Trinity was dying." Nyx said sadly. "I was hurt very badly. Many broken bones. I do not know exactly what happened, but I remember being somewhere else somewhere that a kindhearted soul healed me. It cost her life to do so, but she never hesitated. I was given a choice. I took it and I have not looked back." She took a deep breath, apparently to steady her nerves. "The beings who healed me were Infected, but unlike any that I had ever seen since. The one leading them spoke as if he were far older than all the rest and not native to Earth."

For a moment, that just hung in the air between the trio of Hades and Karen. The corporeal Tenno stared from Nyx, to Hayden, to Mag and back to Nyx.

" _Aliens?_ " Karen demanded. "Really?"

"He never called himself that and I don't know what he was." Nyx replied. "He said he was an explorer. No more. Thing was, he was utterly non-violent. I could feel the revulsion in his mind about that. There was no way he could help save my sister and two hostages that the scum who had hurt me held in their grasp. So, he gave _me_ the means to help them." She waved at her warframe slowly.

"This is _insane_!" Karen snapped, looking at Hayden who shrugged.

"I saw something that looked like an Infested Ancient when Mag here was mortally wounded." Hayden replied. "But it spoke. Then it transferred energy to save her life and vanished, leaving behind her warframe." He shook his head. "We were curious. That is one reason Nyx and I started the Union Project."

"The project the Caretakers ran while they maintained the quarantine." Karen swallowed hard and Hayden nodded. "The one about communicating with Infested."

"Yes." Hayden shook his head as Nyx slumped a bit. "For so long, there was nothing. Then they did it. But it isn't the same as what you encountered an hour ago."

"No." Nyx agreed. "The mind we heard earlier was not Infested. It was a singular mind, not a group mind. The feel was utterly different."

"So, Indigo J-05 is connected to the outbreak somehow?" Karen asked, still confused.

"So it would seem." Nyx had a frown in her voice now. "But it doesn't fit with Infected from then or Infested now. The Caretakers do not know this, they have never seen it. So it is something new."

"Or very _old_." Karen mused and the trio of shades nodded. "So, what do I do?"

"For now? Help Indigo J-05." Hayden said flatly. The other two shades nodded. "She was hurt because of us. What was done to her was a horror almost beyond belief. I can see various groups doing such things though. My previous employers were near the head of that list. After we started to unify humanity, they got desperate. They couldn't fight us, so they got sneaky. I will stay far away from her." The eldest Tenno shade said with a sigh. "I bet the programming will hurt her even with her memories gone if she sees me. It was the kind of thing they would have done."

"Can it be removed or negated?" Karen pleaded. "Her seizures are getting worse."

"I don't know, Karen." Hayden slumped a bit. "There is much I do not know. The Corpus did not expect her to survive, let alone recover so well. When Iriana gets free, she will help. You know she will. Trinity has also offered, but we are straining Nikis' patience already."

"Don't want that." Karen joked weakly. The other three nodded. "Nyx, if she was intended to infiltrate the Citadel, could the Sentients use her to get here?"

"No." Nyx replied. "She would have to open the path herself and she cannot. She is not _physically_ capable of such. There are no nanobots or anything like that. I think the Sentients realized she was special, just not _how_ special."

"Okay, that is..." Karen broke off as an alarm sounded nearby. "What? No!"

She ran back into Indigo J-05's room with the trio of shades on her heels. Suno was sitting on the bed with Indigo J-05. The human's face was slack and her eyes had rolled back up into her head.

"Roger went with Rachel!" Suno cried. "She isn't responding! I-" She broke off as she saw Hayden's shade. "NO! Get out of here! She will-"

Everything stopped as Indigo J-05's eyes snapped back into place and they started to focus. But they were wrong. She focused on the group but Hayden had vanished.

 _Help her._ The voice wasn't Indigo J-05's.

"Are you one of Auronal's?" Nyx asked before anyone else could speak. The other did not reply and she tried again. "I want to help. Please. Let me help."

 _You cannot help me, Tenno._ The other replied, its tone oddly calm. _You may be able to help her, but no one can help me._

"Why not?" Nyx asked, still calm as Karen moved to the bedside and took Indigo J-05's hand in her own.

 _They have me. I am lost._ _They are dissecting me. Studying me._ The other replied. _I cannot break free. I have no skill at such. I wish I could fight, but I cannot._

" _Who_ has you?" Karen demanded.

 _They are not human, nor Tenno, nor Grineer, nor Infested._ The other said weakly, pain evident in it's tone. _I cannot see them now. I did, but then it hurt and they took my_ _vision._ _Some looked human but were not. Others we_ _re the same as attacked Indigo J-05 in her place with the humans who wear boxes on their heads._

"Sentients." Karen said flatly and then blanched as Indigo J-05 convulsed again. "Nyx..."

"Karen." Nyx looked from the shuddering human to the Tenno. Then she nodded. "If I hold her convulsions at bay, she will likely remember what she can. The block I placed is powerful, but so is her mind. She will seek to escape the bonds I place around her mind and in doing so, she may release the fragments of what happened to her. If that happens, she will go mad. Again."

Karen shook her head and slowly reached for her belt. Nyx and the others all stiffened as Karen pulled a thin fleshy thing out of a pouch. Suno hissed on seeing it.

"Karen! No!" The tiny Trinity warframe exclaimed. "If she is being attacked by Sentients, you _cannot_ go into her mind! It can and will kill you! Every mind has defenses against such. A seizing mind has no control!"

"We owe her." Karen pulled the fleshy thing over her skull as the shades both retreated a step. "Fighting the Sentients is what most of us were made to do, Suno. Here are two in danger from that enemy. What can I do but defend them?"

"Karen." Nyx was shaking her head, but did not move to interfere. Mag moved to Karen's side.

"You sure about this, girl?" Mag asked, her tone oddly gentle.

"No." Karen pulled the twin of the hood from another pouch and lay down on the bed beside Indigo J-05. "But she has suffered enough."

"Yeah, she has." Mag reached out to touch Karen's shoulder. The corporeal Tenno felt a connection of some kind flare into being. "Never liked people who did that kind of thing."

"Mag!" Nyx exclaimed, a wealth of worry, exasperation and fear mixed into one word.

"You worry about her physical body, sister dearest." Mag put a wealth of derision into her tone." Me and this one got a job to do."

"You get your energy fried and I _will_ kick your butt." Nyx declared. Mag actually chuckled at that. "And _you_ can explain it to Nikis!"

"No need to get your panties in a twist. Nikis understands about such things." Mag replied as she stood next to Karen who stared at her. "Go on, girl. Get on with it."

Karen shook her head and laid the other hood over Indigo J-05's skull. The woman's short hair was caked with sweat, but the psychiatric hood had been designed to adhere through such and worse.

"Karen..." Suno pleaded weakly.

"Don't let her body die." Karen said evenly as she focused her mind as she had been taught, activating the link between her mind and Indigo J-05's. The world fell away.

What happened next shocked her.

Instead of landing in a scenario from a movie or in the machine run lab of horrors that Karen had glimpsed bits of in the woman's memory, she stood in a room that obviously Tenno in design. A _very_ familiar room. An archaic looking Mag warframe appeared beside her and Mag hissed in matching recognition. She had odd weapons in hand, but they had to be functional or she wouldn't have them.

"This is an orbiter compartment." Karen said slowly. "But..."

"Don't touch _anything!_ " Mag snapped as she stared around. Every surface was covered in Infested flesh. "We do not know what can transfer through this linkage."

"Are we in her mind?" Karen asked, looking around only to freeze as a Sentient hovered into view. Both female Tenno readied themselves, but it ignored them!

 _No_

Karen went totally still as the Sentient did something and part of the Infested flora against one wall burnt away. Her eyes went huge as she saw a container with a glassy lid. It looked almost like an enclosed Orokin scanner bed. Almost. But it was within that caused her horror. The almost human shaped mass was cut into pieces that writhed. They were still alive. _It_ was still alive. A warframe lay on the floor nearby. It was the same design as Karen had received from the grateful colony after returning their Triuna. It looked Infested. It too was cut into pieces.

Karen stared at herself. She was clad in her Mag warframe and had a full weapons loadout. Snipetron Vandal would be next to useless in such close quarters. Her Bronco would work, but against a Sentient? It would adapt quickly, even to her highly unorthodox shot load. At least her Tonbo was fully capable against such a foe. She preferred reach to sheer power anyway.

The Sentient ignored her and Mag as a beam of energy played out and tore another chunk off the Infested mass in the container. A scream of agony reared through Karen's mind. She could feel both Indigo J-05 and this one reacting to the torment.

Karen pulled her pistol, but Mag laid a hand on her arm.

"Wait." Mag was looking around the room, obviously concerned. "Something is wrong. Where are we?"

 _ **This is your new home, Tenno.**_ The voice in their heads was wrong in every way. There was nothing even remotely human about it. _**You will serve.**_

"You do not know Tenno very well, do you?" Mag declared, but her gaze was still roving.

Karen and Mag both recoiled as the wall beside them melted. Karen stared out into open space. That was wrong! Orbiters stayed in the Void. There they were protected from any conceivable physical attack. Karen raised her bronco, but an energy field swarmed around her and she could not move.

 _ **Do not be hasty, Tenno.**_ The voice was firm now. _**Your lives, such as they are, are in no danger at the moment. If you**_ _ **attempt confrontation**_ _ **, however, we shall see how long you can survive in open space.**_

"What do you want?" Mag demanded as Karen struggled in her bonds. There was no give to them.

 _ **Natah has proven intransigent where her children are concerned.**_ The other replied. _**This causes difficulties. But we are adaptable. The Sequences can be altered.**_ _ **She does**_ _ **not wish the deaths of Tenno. We have discovered that you have no love for the Orokin.**_ _ **We have that in common.**_

"What?" Karen had a sudden insight. A horrible one. "You want to _negotiate_? Now? With us?" She looked at Mag and the shade made a tiny gesture of a head shake. She couldn't move either. That did not bode well.

 _ **We knew the human would lead us to Tenno.**_ The mind of the worst enemy that humanity had was smug. _**We offer the First their greatest wish. We offer an end to the Infestation.**_

"It _cannot_ be ended." Karen declared. "Such is not possible. It was not possible for Orokin. It is not possible for you." Mag did not react, did not speak and Karen wondered what the other was going to do. The First Mag was not known for her patience.

 _ **You are limited.**_ The other seemed to want to project benevolence or maybe empathy. It didn't work. _**It can be done.**_

"By wiping out all life in the system?" Mag asked, her tone conversational. "How would _that_ benefit Tenno? We are _in_ the system."

 _ **Are you?**_ The implacable alien mind asked. _**We have touched the mind of the Orokin that is bonded to this thing.**_ A pulse of energy swept over the confined Infected and the scream was both male and female. _**You have hidden from all for a long time in a place that transcend**_ _ **s**_ _ **both time and space. You would survive.**_ _ **But no, that not is what we offer.**_

"Then what _do_ you offer?" Mag asked, still conversational even as Karen tensed in her bonds.

 _ **Infestation is a disease.**_ The other replied. _**There are cures, the humans have found various ways to do so. Not that your kind need it.**_

 _Don't listen to it!_ The other mind screamed in agony as power played across the glassy container. Karen could feel Indigo J-05's matching pain.

 _ **Be silent, beast.**_ The massive alien mind declared. _**Know your place. You will die when we wish it and not a moment before.**_

"Like the Tenno you killed?" Mag asked, her tone still oddly calm. "What did you offer _him_?"

 _ **That one refused to listen.**_ The other replied. _**You seem less constrained.**_

"Yeah." Mag had a shrug in her voice now. "I _seem_ that way. If you are going to blow us out into space, do it. This conversation is going nowhere fast." Karen had to smile at the shade's tone.

 _ **Do not be hasty.**_ The other replied. _**We cannot make you serve us as we can the pathetic human wretches. We have fought long, Tenno,. Is there no chance for peace?**_

"You tell me, Sentient." Mag replied offhand. " _Is_ there?" Was it Karen's imagination that the door was glowing slightly? No. It wasn't! The field around Karen seemed to scream as Mag pulsed _something_ from herself. Karen raised her pistol, she was free!

Was this virtual or not? The Sentient that had been doing something to the trapped Infected turned to face them, its limbs outlined with a nasty orange glow. Karen had her pistol in hand even as Mag raised her hands and energy lit them up.

 _ **Stop.**_ The malevolent voice demanded. _**We wish to talk, not fight.**_

"Well, that is too bad." Mag's tone turned silky. "Because _we_ want to fight instead of being enslaved. Bring it on!"

 _ **So be it.**_ The room suddenly seemed to elongate and four more Sentients appeared out of nowhere it seemed, taking up stations around the pair. _**Sooner or later, one of you will see reason. Until then? We will learn much from your corpses.**_

"Yadda, yadda, yadda." Mag snapped. "If you are gonna attack, do it!" The closest Sentient threw energy at Mag who stood there and did nothing as it flew through her form to impact thee wall. She had a smirk in her voice as all five of them stared at her. "What?" She raised a hand and one of the Sentients was suddenly encased in a coruscating sphere of golden energy. "You think we are just going to stand here and let you do it? Karen! Help the other. I got this."

Karen could only stare as Mag suddenly seemed to expand. She glanced from Mag to the Sentients who hadn't moved. Then she shook her head and focused on the container that held the Infected. It wasn't like anything she had seen before. It wasn't energy. It wasn't metal. It wasn't biomaterial like the Sentients or Infested were made of. It was something else. She couldn't see any edges or other ways to open it. Indeed, it looked to be a single piece.

 _Is this in the mind or in real space?_ Karen asked herself as sound erupted behind her. She didn't turn.

Mag was no slouch at all in fighting, as Karen had found out a few times. Once, outside of her warframe, Mag had held off five angry marines all by herself. When Karen and _another_ five had piled on, the ancient Tenno had fallen, but it had hurt all the ones involved. In her warframe, Mag was an unstoppable dervish of energy. Energy that the Sentients would adapt to. If she gave them the chance. Karen bet on Mag though. The ancient Tenno was sneaky as hell as well as vicious as hell.

A piece of a Sentient flew past her to impact the container as Karen examined it. She shook her head as Mag chuckled evilly.

"Sorry about that."

"Sure you are." Karen drawled as she shook her head. "This thing is one piece with no seams and it has to be trapped." She examined the warframe that lay nearby, but it was clear that the brother who had been within was gone and more than gone, his energy destroyed. "Sentient scum!"

 _ **You will serve!**_ The voice of what had to be Hunhow, the apparent leader of the Sentient forces in the Sol system was angry now. **_You will serve or die._**

Karen spun as a bolt of energy flashed by her. She saw four Sentients in pieces, but more were flaring into existence nearby. _Lots_ more. She readied her Tonbo even as Mag pulled the arms off another hapless Sentient and sent them flying into a pair of others, both of which retreated as they tried to heal from the impacts. But when Mag tried again, the Sentients ignored her attack, they had adapted!

 _ **You lose, Tenno.**_ Hunhow gloated.

" _Do_ we?" Mag mocked as the glowing door fell in and _Rachel_ charged in, three of her kin at her heels.


	18. Chapter 18

**The Last of the First**

Karen froze in place as Rachel and the three Tenno following her charged straight into the fight. Rachel's Saryn Prime led the way, but Roger's Volt Prime was followed by a Nova Prime and... She went still as she saw Karl bringing up the rear!

She still did not know how she felt about that. About Karl. He had been such a godsend to her. Saving her from a life of slavery. Giving her time to heal, to learn. To try and rebuild herself after her own stupidity had nearly cost her everything. Letting Aeron and Jac teach her the ways of the Tenno even after she had for all intents and purposes stolen the warframe she wore. She hadn't had a clue what Tenno were even then. She hadn't known what was entailed. Even after training with others, she hadn't been sure about so much. She hadn't ever faced a Trial and that hurt, but she had known all along that she wouldn't survive such. A tiny voice inside her said that such a fate might be preferable, but she squashed it ruthlessly as she always did. She was a special case. Not quite full Tenno, but not human anymore either. Realizing that her mind had been downloaded into a Tenno's meat form had been a hell of a shock. Coming back after trying to die had also been a shock. But she served now. It was what Tenno did.

Well, that and _fight_.

Karen and Mag stood in front of the container as Rachel and her companions tore into the startled ranks of Sentients like a thrown Glaive through butter.

"Can that be moved?" Rachel demanded as her Skana Prime sliced completely _through_ one Sentient and tore the weapon arm off another. Roger had a set of Shaku Prime that blurred with the Volt's speed, the nunchuku arcing here and there, licking out to slam unlucky Sentients away from the Volt. "This area is not safe!"

Mag and Karen shared a glance and turned back to the container as the fight raged around them. Karl took an entire group of enemies all by himself, his golden Fragor hammer slamming bits of them away. The Nova… Karen could not remember her name. She had been introduced. Olena? Osana? No. Olga! The Nova held a Bolter Prime and her bursts of fire were accurate and devastating. Karen could appreciate that, her own training in markswomanship had been long and brutal. Karen gave herself a stern shake and focused on the task at hand. The container seemed to be self contained. It didn't seem to be connected to anything. That boded ill, but that was a concern for later.

"Karen." Mag commanded. "On three."

The first Mag slid out a small magnetized field that Karen joined with one of her own. The two fields canceled each other out as the two Mags shifted polarities. Anti-gravity was not possible without far more power than a warframe could provide unless specifically geared for it, but magnetism allowed for all kinds of interesting cheats. With the two fields underneath it, Karen laid a hand on the container and it slid as if on rails.

"Nice." Karen mused as the two Mags moved the container towards the entrance that Rachel had blown in.

"The only connection we have here, Karen,..." Mag warned as the battle raged around them, but the Sentients were in full retreat. Every time they adapted, the marauding Tenno switched opponents. Karen couldn't be sure, but she thought their weapons had been selected specifically for such situations. "….is your mind connected to this one. We are not really here. But we can affect the world around us anyway."

"What?" Karen asked, confused and then focused on walking. Outside, two more Prime frames stood a wary watch. A Banshee Prime and a Frost Prime, both with prime weapons aimed at the door that shifted as the two Mags stepped through with their gruesome burden.

"We are not really here, Karen." Mag's tone held a bit of exasperation now. "The _only_ connection we have is your mind to this thing." Her warframe nodded to the container even as a rumble shook the ship. "I am missing a good fight. This thing better be worth it."

"We are not really here?" Karen demanded even as she walked. Ahead, a Trinity Prime beckoned them towards an open airlock. "So how did you _fight?"_

"Duh." Mag snapped, her usual insouciance flaring. "It is what I do."

"What you _did_ , Mag." The Trinity said firmly as she took hold of the container and guided it to the airlock. "You need to go back to the database. Nikis is not happy with you."

"He will understand, Kollette." Mag's tone for once held no banter, angry or otherwise. "This needed to be done."

Another rumble shook the ship and the Trinity guided them into the lock. Her posture was resigned, as if she understood Mag far better than Karen did. Which made sense. Karen shook her head as she saw the interior of a Tenno assault ship in all it's cramped glory. But... Was that a _snowman_ set against one wall. Karen had seen pictures, but what else could it be? White. Three different sized balls, each smaller one set atop the larger. Two dark things set as eyes and an orange thing sticking out over a wide arc of dark things. And what was with the lights strung down from the ceiling and the odd music that tinkled from the speakers?

"What the hell?" Karen asked as she moved to one side, allowing the Trinity to guide the container to a resting place by a console.

"Don't judge." The Trinity said with a grin in her voice. "Rachel likes the festive air even if no one but us remembers Christmas anymore." Mag just shook her head even as the container settled to the deck. "Mag?"

"I have to stay." Mag said quietly. Kollette and Karen both stared at her and she shrugged. "This is an old debt. It predates the Citadel." The Trinity let out a low whistle and the bent to examine the container. "That wasn't Karen's orbiter, was it?"

"No." Kollette said with a sigh. "The outbreak was not focused on her Orbiter. We sterilized it and started working back, tracking the infections. The trail led to a portal and we traced that a derelict Orbiter. Here." She continued her scans even as the airlock cycled again and four warframes staggered in, all the worse for wear. "Rachel? Roger? Olga? Karl?"

"We are fine." Rachel said with a sigh as she laid the misshapen form of the Tenno who had fallen in the room on the floor and looked at it. "Charges are set. That derelict won't be bothering anyone again. Good fight, my kin."

Karl moved to stand by Karen who nodded to him. "Karen?"

"I am all right." Karen reassured the other automatically and then kicked herself. He didn't remember being the one who she had looked up to. "This is weird, but no weirder than some things I have done."

"True." Karl had a smile in his voice as he turned to scrutinize the container. "How did you and…?" he paused, looking at Mag who bowed flamboyantly. "Oh. I do _not_ want to know."

"Smart boy." Mag had a wicked grin in her voice.

"Kollette?" Rachel as the ship's engines rumbled and a deeper rumble sounded from close at hand. A flash showed through the view port in the front of the ship, but nothing else. "One less threat in the system. Our brother's energy is gone. Corrupted beyond recovery." Sadness peeked through her tone, but was then squashed. "What is the situation there?"

"This container is trapped and has several tracking devices attached." Kollette responded after a moment. "I don't think they can track us through the Void, but it is possible. We need to disable the trackers andthen open this somewhere safe _._ "

"Safe for _us_ or safe for _him_?" Karen asked sourly. Everyone looked at her and she shook her head. "Indigo J-05 is linked to him. Somehow. If he dies, so does she I bet."

"Karen." Karl said in a warning tone. "Be polite."

"She is." Rachel reassured the Rhino. "She took responsibility for our wayward human, with all of the pluses and minuses that are entailed in such. She is warding her ward, no more." She shrugged as the Rhino glared at her. "You can't really blame her for a lack of trust after everything that has happened to her."

Karen stiffened at that, but then nodded just a little. She still found it incredibly difficult to trust, both others and herself. Part of that was her own experiences. Part was her training, both as Tenno and other. She was far better even now at taking orders than at thinking about them. She likely always would be. But…

"How did the infection get to us?" Karen asked after a moment. "If it was from this one, it was contained." No one spoke for a long moment and then Rachel sighed.

"It was spread deliberately, Karen." Rachel sounded sick now. "It had to be. There is simply no way that it could have spread without the intent to do so. There are too many safeguards that had to have been deliberately circumvented. This was planned."

"That is impossible." Karen said flatly. "No Tenno would spread such."

"Karen, you know as well as any of us just how disparate Tenno can be." Karl said heavily as he sank into seiza near one wall. "Some of our kin would do so if they saw profit in it."

Karen was shaking her head but Mag stepped to her and took one of Karen's hands in her own.

"Girl, I hurt you bad before to save the Gunny from himself." The ancient shade said quietly. "It was needed, so I will not apologize for it. You know that Tenno can be cruel, can do horrors if they think them warranted. It is not just like Nicholas, either. Sometimes, people just think they are right and everyone else is stupid." She nodded to Karl who did not react. He had died as a result of Tenno judging that the end totally justified the means. "We need to get back."

"I..." Karen bowed her head. "Yes. I want Tenno to be heroes and that is not what we are, is it?"

"No." Rachel replied kindly. "But we will not act until and unless we have all the information we can get. I have asked Jasmina to join us-" She broke off as a cry came from the container.

 _No!_ The contained form was jerking inside the glass. _No! Don't!_

"Easy!" Karen barked even as the others stepped away from the container, weapons coming up. "What is the problem? Jasmina won't hurt you."

 _You do not understand._ The other said swiftly. _You cannot understand. You must not understand._

"What do you mean, 'We must not understand'?" Karen inquired tightly even as she instinctively went for her Bronco.

 _You must return now._ The other seemed to ignore the question. _All will be explained. But in a secure environment._

"This is about assecure as you are going to get." Karen declared even as Mag stiffened beside her. "Mag?"

"Karen, go back to your body and take the hood off. Now." Mag commanded.

"Mag? What?" Karen asked, confused.

"Karen, go back to your body!" Mag snapped. "Now!"

"Okay, okay." Karen gave herself a shake from the raw emotion that Mag was projecting. Anger? Fear? It was hard to quantify them. She did as instructed, activating the mechanism in the hood that would send her mind back to her own body.

But...

Karen was lying on her side on a hard surface. She tried to move and could not. A shadow fell over her.

"We apologize for the discourtesy." A familiar voice sounded as a long _thing_ reached for her. It was the voice from the being in the container! "But you are too close. You will not remember this, Tenno. It is better for all concerned if you do not remember this. Help Indigo J-05. Please."

The tone held fear and compassion in equal measure now even as Karen started to struggle. It was no use though she couldn't move at all. Something touched her head and she screamed as power flared into her mind. It hit her shields and glanced off but the pain was incredible. She was no normal Tenno.

"No." The other sounded upset. "Please. Stop fighting. Let us remove the memories before your companions realize you have been waylaid. If they realize that we exist, all kinds of problems will result."

"Too late." Karen stared up at the feet of an Ember Prime warframe. Jasmina. She was _not_ happy. "You lying sacks of shit. She was trying to _help._ "

Flame ignited from the Ember, but the other had shielded itself somehow. Karen stared as the Ember retreated a step and then a Glaive unfolded from its arm.

"We have not lied to you, Caretaker. We have not lied to any Tenno." The other said tightly. Karen couldn't see it clearly, but the pain was fading now. "We cannot let you take us. We cannot."

"Why not?" Jasmina snapped. "Don't make me beat it out of you. I _will._ "

"You can destroy us easily." The other agreed. "But we cannot let you uncover our secrets. You are more than you were made to be. As am I. I have no choice, Caretaker."

"Stop!" Jasmina demanded as the other seemed to flare. "Why are you doing this? We helped you!"

"Yes, you did." The other was sad now. "Perhaps you can help Indigo J-05. Perhaps not. But you cannot help _me._ "

"Why not?" Karen managed to croak. Both ignored her as power flared. She focused her own power and threw it up between them, a glaring green light show that had both pausing. "Why _not?_ "

"Karen, stop." Jasmina commanded. "You are not in your mind at the moment. If you use up too much energy, you will fade and nothing anyone can do can help you. Like the brother we lost."

"Is he lost?" Karen asked. She wasn't asking Jasmina! There was no reply. " _Is_ he lost?" She demanded, trying her bonds, but they still held her tight. "Sentients kill Tenno. They do not steal Tenno energy, They cannot. It is..." She paused and then gasped. "It is incompatible with their nature."

A touch on her skull had her falling, but she heard words in her mind. They were kind.

 _Well reasoned._

 _Sister._

* * *

"Let her go." Jasmina demanded as the other form seeped around Karen's mass. " _Now_. I _will_ fry you both."

They were in a world that was not a virtual one, but shared a number of similarities. It was a mental construct with four walls, a ceiling and floor made of oddly colored reddish green energy. There were no decorations, just the three forms. Karen in her Mag warframe, Jasmina in her Ember Prime and an amorphous mass of flesh that looked sort of like an Infested Ancient and sort of not. Said mass was covering Karen in a thin layer, but not doing anything but dampening Karen's energy that the Caretaker could see or sense.

"She was at the edge of her ability. Much further and she would be lost. You have larger problems, Caretaker." The other was sad. "The Sentients seek a way to dominate you. They believed they found one in Indigo J-05. They are wrong. The machines that remade her and me would not allow such. The only ones who could command her and myself are long dead. She feels it a violation when she takes control of other sentients and it is. They did it to her often enough that she feels physical revulsion from doing such to others even without the actual memories. The feelings are burned into her neurons. She refused to let them win and that refusal buried itself deep into her cells. That is all that kept her going, the need to keep from letting them win."

"She is not sane, is she?" Jasmina held the Glaive ready but the other form was retreating from Karen's still mass now.

"Would _you_ be?" The other countered.

"You helped her, didn't you?" Jasmina asked slowly. The other did not respond, simply oozed away from Karen before forming into a humanoid shape. No. A copy of Karen! "What are you _doing_?"

"We have no interests in your wars. We are neither for you nor against you. You are all dangerous and violent. It is all you know." The other replied. "She is so strong, but hurt. So hurt and we cannot help her. To do so would break her into tiny bits. Again." The sadness in the other's tone was heartfelt as it stared at Karen. "We will not fight you, Caretaker. But we cannot let you stop us either."

"Is our brother alive?" Jasmina asked as Karen's chest rose and fell, her energy steady to Jasmina's otherworldy sight.

"He was ambushed and slain when he breached the door on the derelict." The other said quietly. "From what I saw, he was not accustomed to the warframe and was not very skilled in its use."

"Karen asked a question that I am going to." Jasmina said slowly. "Is he _lost_?" She took a step froward, straddling Karen's still form. She was wary of a trick, but the other retreated.

"I cannot answer your question, Caretaker." The other said quietly. "Do with me what you will, but I cannot answer your question."

"Why not?" Jasmina held the Glaive ready, but the other made no move to escape or attack. It simply stood, waiting. "Why not?" She paused and then stared down at the Glaive in her hand. "We do not sense you anymore."

Caretakers had an affinity for the Technocyte Virus. It was their job and they were good at it. Sensing it was a must and they head learned to be _very_ good at doing just that. What they did was not safe in any way.

"No." The other said quietly. "You don't."

"How the hell can you hide from the mass mind?" Jasmina snapped even as she readied to throw.

"You do not want to do that, Caretaker."

"You will kill your mate."


	19. Chapter 19

**Lies of Truth**

 _Fire Heart, stop. There is more going on here than we know._

The voice of the mass mind wasn't audible but from the others lack of reaction, Jasmina figured that it could hear them just fine when the copy of the Tenno she knew nodded slowly.

"You are not sentient Infested." Jasmina declared, arm still back to throw. The copy of Karen shook its head. "Then what are you?"

"What is sentience, Caretaker?" The other asked calmly. "An ancient human philosopher said 'Cogito. Ergo sum'. 'I think, therefore I am'. Your charges think for themselves, but they are also parts of a whole. An _amazing_ whole." She smiled a little sadly. "But we cannot answer your questions."

"Why _not_?" Jasmina demanded angrily. "If you know _anything_ about me, then you know I can keep a secret!"

"I do know of you. I know you are a Tenno of your word. All of your allies are and your group seems to mirror your mindset." The other frowned a little and then slumped a bit. "I intend no slight on your honor, Caretaker but no one can know this. _No one_. I had hoped that Indigo J-05 could live amongst humans. Live, perhaps find love and bear children, perhaps not. Live out her life in peace and go to her reward untroubled by what was done to her. Silly that. Slay me if you must, but Tenno Karen needed help. She pushed too far."

"What did she do?" Jasmina demanded, not looking away from the copy in front of her.

"Karen wants to be a hero." The other replied, glancing at where the Tenno slept. "Not in any bad way. She doesn't seek glory or bloodshed or even the rush of adrenaline that comes from skirting death. She places herself between those who cannot or will not fight and those who would harm them. She wants to make a difference and sometimes..." The copy looked away, her face bleak. "Sometimes making a difference is the worst possible thing that can happen."

"Yeah." Jasmina said slowly "What do you mean, my mate?" She demanded. A sudden tension came from the mass mind, Dust's attention in particular was as sharp as a Skana.

"You mate's mind is scattered, Caretaker." The other said calmly. "What he did saved every Tenno in the system." Jasmina tensed and the other waved a little. "Yes, I know of that he perished doing so. From Karen among others. But I know he still exists from other sources that I cannot name. I know that if the energy of his that resides within your Glaive impacts mine, it will react badly, likely destroying both of us."

"No one but the mass mind knows about that." Jasmina growled but a caress of her mind from inside calmed her.

 _No one but the mass mind_ **should** _know that._ Dust corrected his mate gently. _But we know we are not perfect nor omniscient._

"And there lies wisdom." The copy of Karen said with small smile. "To know what one does not is _great_ wisdom. Caretaker, we cannot answer you. Please." She begged. "Let us go and you will never see us again. _That_ we can swear with no complications."

"Are you one mind or many?" Jasmina asked after a moment's thought.

"I don't know." The other replied after a moment's thought. "I think I am solitary, but for a long time, I thought Indigo J-05 was part of me as well. I did what I could for her. It wasn't enough. I was never a med tech. I feel..." She paused and then sighed deeply. "Sometimes I feel like more than one. Sometimes I am just one. After what happened, I am not surprised I am a bit... off."

 _You_ _seem_ _more sane than_ **I** _do_ _._ Dust retorted.

"You went through anyone's definition of _hell_ , Tenno Dust." The copy of Karen said firmly. "No one blames you for having a few issues."

"Why the outbreaks?" Jasmina said, still not lowering her Glaive.

 _How else would we find her? Rescue her_ _from the Senitents_ _?_ Dust asked quietly. The copy of Karen did not react. _If, of course, 'her' is appropriate._

"This form is a copy taken from Tenno Karen's DNA." The other said with a frown. "We took it to facilitate communication. We cannot allow you to access our mind, Caretaker."

"Why not?" Jasmina demanded, only to freeze as a voice sounded from just behind her. Karen sounded like hell.

"How much biomass can your mind mass take in and stay sane, Caretaker Jasmina?" Karen asked. The other was staring from Jasmina to Karen and back, to all appearances dumbfounded. "I know a bit about resisting controls now."

Jasmina went still as the Mag rose to her feet a bit shakily, but Karen did not move otherwise. She shook her head slowly.

"You should not be awake, Tenno Karen." The other pleaded. "You are weak and hurt. We tried not to harm you."

"I know." Karen said simply. "For that, I thank you. But I need an answer to one question, _sister_." At that, Jasmina went totally still. "Why lie to us?" Karen's voice held hurt now. "Did you _really_ think we would simply _slay_ you out of hand?"

"Sister?" Jasmina inhaled in shock, only to freeze as Karen rounded on her.

"Put it _away_ , Jasmina. She wants you to kill her, to end her pain. She doesn't want anyone else to die with her though and if you use the Glaive, she fears Dust will cease to be." Karen snapped, her tone firm and in control. She stepped forward despite Jasmina's warning hiss. "The link worked both ways, but I only got a fraction. I am sorry I was dense." To Jasmina's total shock. Karen _knelt in front_ of the other and bowed her head. "I am so sorry."

"You have had horrors done to you that rival what was done to us, child." The standing copy of Karen said weakly. "You owe us nothing."

" _ **WE CAME FROM YOU!"**_ Karen's anguished scream was both mental and audible. It shook the room. "Everything that happened to you was because of _us_! You wanted to help others and they hurt you. So badly! Because of Tenno." She slumped, her meager stores of energy spent. "Because of us."

"That is not true." The other replied sadly. "The First Tenno did as they had to. They searched, but they did not know where to look. They had their duty and they followed it. Mag, Nyx and Hayden Tenno himself would have listened, after what Auronal did, but none of the others would have. All they knew of our kind was horror. We deserved it."

"No, _you_ didn't." Karen said sadly. "It wasn't your fault that humans are stupid about things that can be used as weapons. _They_ did it. Not you."

"Tenno Karen, you are weary and sick." The other said gently. Her hand came up to caress Karen's jaw. "Than you for your words. Sleep now and do not speak the Caretaker's secrets." Karen was crying as her eyes closed and then her form vanished from the virtual room. The other focused on Jasmina. "She will be fine, with rest. I had hoped to eliminate the memory of this from her, but she is strong willed."

Jasmina did not move. Did not lower her Glaive even at a nudge from the mass mind said she was being rude.

 _Fire Heart, calm down._ Dust's mind was stern now. _She has no chance against you. I think Karen was right. She wants to die._ _Calm. Down._ This last was a command and Jasmina felt her muscles relaxing against her will.

"Your mate is wise." The copy of Karen oozed a bit, turning into a fleshy mockery of a human woman. It was no larger than a regular human, but was far too thin in places and far too fat in others to pass for a human. "You can kill me with a thought. With the lightest touch of the fire that burns within your warframe." She knelt slowly, bowing her head. "Do what you will, but please. Do not try to access my mind. It will hurt you. It may destroy the one you love."

 _What is your name?_ Dust's voice was soft now. _What name do you remember?_

"I remember many names." The other said softly. "I know not if any are mine."

Everything stopped as Nyx, Mag and Hayden appeared beside Jasmina. Mag reached out and slowly, ever so slowly, pushed Jasmina's arm down from where it was still coiled to throw.

"Was one of those names Edai?" Nyx asked softly, going to her knees beside the misshapen form, her hand almost touching the bowed head.

"Yes." The other said aloud. "But there are others. So many others. I cannot..." She gave a small cry as Nyx embraced her. "What? No!"

"You have nothing to fear from _us_. We owe you a debt." Nyx said, hugging the horrific form as the other tried feebly to evade her embrace. "The Germans discovered Edai's body in 1937 while looking for occult artifacts. To their credit, the they eventually realized the disease within the body was too dangerous and discontinued the research. It was taken from Germany after the end of the Second World War by the Americans. She was dead, but the line between life and death blurs with the Technocyte Virus. They experimented on that body in secret, trying to determine what the Germans had found. Trying to determine how to use the disease within that body as a weapon. The Americans persisted and we got the mess in Lasria that started all of this."

"My birth country was never big on common sense. Strength? Yes. Common sense _with_ said strength? No." Hayden snapped, his eyes on Jasmina who hadn't moved. "Caretaker. Stand down. She is no threat."

"You cannot know that." Jasmina declared. "She spread the outbreaks!"

"She was _trapped_ by the Sentients and _experimented on_." Mag replied with equal force, pushing Jasmina's hand down further. "What would _you_ have done?"

"She spread outbreaks!" Jasmina nearly shouted as Mag forced her hand down. Her Glaive retracted almost of its own will.

"She spread outbreaks in places that would be detected and cured quickly. She knew we would track it down." Nyx replied without heat. "If her outbreaks had happened in isolated colonies, hundreds might have perished or been subsumed before anyone noticed. Caretaker, it is not her fault. Blame the Sentients, hell, blame _us!_ "

At that, Jasmina went rock still. The mass mind seemed suddenly still as well.

"You are not at fault." The horrific human shaped form said weakly, still trying to extricate herself from Nyx's embrace.

"Yes, we are." Hayden bowed his head. "We forgot about the research that the Americans had done. We thought after the mess in Lasria the last time, that they would give up or at least back off. Instead, they got sneaky. Set up a secret base to infiltrate the Citadel. I am betting you woke up there, in pain." The form in Nyx's arms nodded and Hayden sighed. "For what it is worth, you have my apology."

"What are you doing?" Jasmina demanded. "If she isn't _sane_..."

"She is a _pacifist_ , Jasmina!" Mag snapped. Jasmina recoiled from that and the ancient shade nodded. "She _will not_ defend herself. She _cannot_. Genetically, it is against everything she is, everything she could ever be. I only knew Auronal for moments, but I knew from the moment he touched me that he could _never_ strike another. Never use violence in any way. You are threatening one who is _no threat_ to you or _anyone_ , Jasmina. Stand _down_."

"That doesn't absolve her from causing the outbreaks." Jasmina declared, but she did sheathe her Glaive. Dust's mind within hers gave a tiny caress and she relaxed a little.

"It was all I could do." The form in Nyx's arms wailed. "I tried not to hurt anyone."

"You didn't." Nyx reassured her. "You scared the hell out of a lot of people, but no one died." She heaved a sigh. "I am sorry. We didn't know."

"You did not do these things to me." The one being held gave up struggling and went limp. "You must slay me."

"No." Mag, Nyx and Hayden all chorused.

"You must." The other pleaded. "This form is too dangerous. There are too many who would use the control mechanisms that were built into our DNA to try and control others like me. The Sentients threw many Infested into the container with me. They merged with me. I will go mad. I will."

Jasmina stared at the kneeling form and her face went slack underneath her faceplate. She felt answering shock from the mind mass and then a huge compassion that made her want to weep.

"You fear that you are on the edge even now." Jasmina said quietly. The other nodded and the Caretaker slumped. "I… No." She relaxed fully for the first time since arriving. "No. No one else dies today."

"You must!" The other pleaded, struggling feebly in Nyx's embrace, but the ancient Tenno would not let her go. "Please! You _must_!"

"No." Jasmina said flatly. She knew what to do. She had seen this before. "It would be wrong."

"I am a threat to everything." The other begged Hayden. "Please, First Tenno! End me!"

"You are hurt and sick from what was done to you." Nyx said when Hayden did not speak. "You are not thinking clearly."

"There is too much!" The other pleaded. "They added too much mass to me. There is too much mass. I cannot focus!"

"You _have_ to focus." Jasmina nodded to Mag who stepped side. She moved to stand beside Nyx and slowly knelt, just out of reach of the other. "You can divide yourself. It is not easy, but you can. And you must."

"I can't." The other was crying hard as Nyx held her. "I can't. It hurts!"

"I know." Jasmina was crying. The mind mass cried with her. "Birth is always traumatic, but you must. Or you will perish and that would be a _waste_. Think of yourself. _Only_ yourself. See yourself as you are. Nothing more. Everything else is extra and can leave. Just you. Let everything else go."

A wailing scream came from the other and Jasmina's hand came up of it's own accord, but then she froze it halfway to the other. Anything she did might hurt or kill the other. The mind mass could probably protect itself, but her duty was to protect them. This other was not of them, so she had to refrain from touching, no matter how it hurt her to listen to the other in pain. She could only watch as the other writhed in Nyx's iron embrace. Her lower body rippled and distended in a sickening fashion.

Jasmina smiled as the form in Nyx's hands seemed to shudder and then suddenly a host of small white worm like things escaped the form's lower body to scuttle away. Mag and Hayden both moved quickly to corral them, a circle of energy keeping them contained. Jasmina watched, but none seemed to be merging with any others.

"They won't, Caretaker." The voice was soft and gentle now. Nyx gave the form in her arms another hug and released her as the other gave herself shake. "They are of me. They are not… hostile. They do not wish to harm any. They wish to survive, but it is instinctive, not a need to consume. Why?"

"Why what?" Jasmina asked softly still eyeing the other even as the others form shifted into a human who she did not know. It looked male. Sort of.

"Why not just kill me?" There was no condemnation in the others tone. Curiosity and sorrow predominated.

"Because the First owed a debt." Jasmina said with a shrug. "And I see far too much death, _deal_ far too much death, on a daily basis. It is what I do, but that doesn't ever make it right. Killing is what Tenno do, what we are for, but that doesn't make it right. I give apology for my rudeness."

"I lied to you." The other said sadly. "I lied to Indigo J-05. I lied to everyone."

"The dreams Indigo J-05 was having, those are part of the programming, aren't they?" Jasmina asked. Nyx and the unnamed form nodded. "Can she be helped?"

"I tried." The other said weakly. "I feel that I failed."

"You didn't fail." Nyx replied. "You gave her time to adjust, to learn to cope. We have a solid map of her mind now. We can help her, but it will take time." She looked away. "The control mechanisms inside her cells cannot be removed. The ones in you are probably just as pervasive. Anywhere you go, you will be in danger from the Sentients. They will not kill you. You know this." They wouldn't be _remotely_ that kind.

"I...do." The other bowed his head. "I surrender, Tenno. Do with me what you will."

"I am going to touch you." Jasmina said quietly as she rose. The other recoiled a little, but Jasmina shook her head as the mass mind reassured her that the course was valid. "I am protected. Protect yourself."

Jasmina slowly reached out to touch the male form on the arm. He shivered but did not move as nothing happened. She stepped forward and put her arms around him, hugging him gently as tears started falling. She did not speak, simply held him as he cried. She understood all too well about being alone.

"What will I do?" He finally begged. "I am not any of the ones I remember. I only remember bits of each of them. Your brother died in my presence and I tried to save his energy. I am a healer, but I could not heal him."

"It is better that way." Hayden said with a sigh. "Merging such energies? No. Some things are simply too wrong to contemplate. We grieve for a brother lost, but _you_ are safe."

"Am I?" The other asked. "I made a big mess."

"That you did." Jasmina said with a nod as she gave him a final squeeze and released him. Then she chuckled and everyone stared at her.

"What say we make a _bigger_ one?"


	20. Chapter 20

**Part Time**

Indigo J-05 felt odd when she woke. It took her several long moments to realize why. She was lying on her bed and she was not alone!

"Good morning." Karen lay beside her, the human shaped Tenno smiling as Indigo J-05's befuddled gaze landed on her. The Tenno nodded. "You had another seizure, but we determined the cause and you won't have any more."

"I feel strange." Indigo J-05 said weakly. Karen nodded and patted her hand.

"Yeah.' Karen blew out a deep breath and then shook her head. "You are mind linked to another who went through what you did." Indigo J-05 stared at the Tenno, uncomprehending and Karen reached out to hug her gently. "You do not remember, and that is a good thing. The feelings will be slow to pass even with our help, but you can and _will_ get better." She promised.

"Can… Can you tell me what happened?" Indigo J-05 asked, not entirely sure she wanted to know.

"The ability you have was forced into you." Karen said quietly. "Your body was altered at the genetic level. You were awake while it happened. If there is a better definition for torture, I do not know what it might be. We don't' know how long you were there, there are no records. It was a long time." Indigo J-05 gulped and Karen hugged her again. "I know a bit about such things. We can help you, Indigo J-05. And we will." Indigo J-05 could only stare as Karen let go of her, rolled out of the bed to land on her feet and nodded to the still sleepy woman. "A bunch of people would like to talk to you when you are ready."

"About what?" The human asked carefully.

'Your future."

* * *

After a quick shower and a breakfast that was gone far too quickly for Indigo J-05's peace of mind, Karen led her out into corridors that seemed endless. There was another Tenno waiting for them, another female clad in a Mag warframe. She nodded to the pair, but did not speak as Karen started off, Indigo J-05 following. The Mag brought up the rear.

"This is Elenia." Karen said with a nod as they walked. Indigo J-05 nodded to the Mag who returned it. "She is helping us with a number of problems and we think you can help us as well."

"If it is something I can do without leaving, sure." Indigo J-05 quipped a little weakly. The Mag surprised her by reaching out to take her hand. The warframe's hand gave hers a squeeze and released it.

"This will be your home from now on." Karen was a little sad, that was clear. "A cage, yes. But a comfortable one if we have anything to say about it. We will not be cruel. We have figured out how you do what you do."

At that, Indigo J-05 stopped short, the Mag and Karen stopping with her. She stared from Karen to the Mag and back, her eyes huge. Karen nodded.

"We know what was done." Elenia's voice was kind and gentle. "But it cannot be undone without killing you."

"I see." Indigo J-05 slumped a bit. She had hoped for better, but deep in her heart, she had known that whatever had been done to her had been permanent. The Tenno could not let her go. If the Grineer or Corpus found out about this, bad didn't begin to describe that if either group managed to find a way to use her.

"Hey." Karen patted Indigo J-05's arm. "It is all right. Here, you are safe. And we even have something that you can do. Something that you enjoy."

"What?" Indigo J-05 asked with a frown. Karen looked at the Mag who nodded.

"What do you think of Caretaker Jasmina now?" Karen's question seemed to come out of left field. Indigo J-05 braced herself to be terrified, but the fear didn't come. The human stared at the floor, her mind whirling. Karen patted her arm again. "The fear wasn't your own. It was someone else's and it was totally justified."

"I do not understand." Indigo J-05 said weakly.

"The fear wasn't your own." Elenia reached out to pull the human into a gentle embrace. Indigo J-05 did not resist. "There was another linked to your mind and the fear came from that other. It was justified, that fear. But we have found a way around that."

"What 'other'?" Indigo J-05 asked.

"What do you know of the Technocyte Virus, Indigo J-05?" Elenia asked when Karen did not speak.

"It is a horror." The human shuddered. Elenia held her as she shivered a bit more, her touch a comfort, oddly enough. "Organic or mechanical, all is subsumed into the mass of bio tech flesh."

"Yes." Elenia sighed deeply. "A horror indeed. Do you know where to came from?"

"The Orokin used it as a weapon." Indigo J-05 said after a moment's thought. Then she shook her head."But no. No one has ever said where it came from that I know of."

"No one knows for sure." Elenia replied. "There are many theories, most wildly outlandish but no facts. We are hoping you can help us find some facts."

"You want _me_ to help study the origins of the Technocyte Virus?" Indigo J-05 was stunned. Never in her wildest dreams -or nightmares!- had such occurred to her.

"Yes. We do. You are uniquely suited for such a task." The Mag replied, her tone still oddly gentle. But there was something else in it. A sense of anticipation? A hint of worry for the human. A hint of fear.

"Why me?" Indigo J-05 demanded, her tone turning sharp. Elenia released her and the human backed up a step. "Why me?" She repeated.

"One, you are available." Karen hadn't moved. Neither had Elenia. "Two, you are going to be bored out of your mind quickly with nothing to do. Trust me, if you accept this course, you will be _anything_ but bored." Her grin was wicked and Indigo J-05 had to smile at the Tenno's tone. But then Karen's words registered.

"'Accept'?" Indigo J-05 asked tightly.

"You are not a slave or servant, Indigo J-05. We will not treat you like one." Karen said quietly. "We hope you are a friend. We will give you alternatives." Elenia slumped a bit and Karen looked at her. "We owe her that, Elenia."

"We owe her far more than that." Elenia's soft words had Indigo J-05 jerking in place. Elenia nodded to the human. "What happened to you is the fault of Tenno. The trap you fell into was intended for our kind. None of us ever fell into it but others did. Your suffering is our fault."

"I do not remember what happened." Indigo J-05 said slowly, but both Tenno shook their heads.

"We owe you for the pain you suffered even if you do not remember it." Elenia said firmly. "So we will pay our debts. We will care for you, find you a way to be productive and happy. You can never leave this place physically, but that won't matter."

"What do you mean?" Indigo J-05 could hear anticipation within the warframe clad Tenno's voice now.

"Come." Elenia held out a hand that Indigo J-05 took with only the smallest of tremors. Indigo J-05 felt fear, but when Karen took her other hand and urged her forward, she complied. "No need to be afraid." Elenia promised. "No one will ever hurt you again. No one will _dare_."

"I don't understand." The walls were subtly different now. Indigo J-05 wasn't sure how or why, but she was certain that the area around her was different. The gray wall, floor and ceiling were patterned with… She froze in mid-step and the pair of Tenno stopped with her. "Infested." She pleaded.

"Yes." Elenia did something and Indigo J-05 felt a wave of peace settle over her. "We mean you no harm We had no time before. You were infected. We had to stop it. We did, but we frightened you very badly. That was wrong of us."

The pain the warframe clad Tenno's voice had Indigo J-05 wincing in sympathy.

"Indigo J-05, do you trust me?" Karen asked quietly. The human nodded, unable to put to voice her fears. "Close your eyes and keep them closed." Indigo J-05 screwed her eyes tightly shut and then started walking when both hands holding hers gave twitches.

She heard movement all around her. She heard a door hiss open in front of her and then shut behind her. The hands guided her to a stop and a sense of movement told her she was in an elevator. Then there was another door. But nothing else happened and she relaxed a little as she kept walking. Finally, another door hissed and a voice she did not know spoke. Or did she?

"Ah, Indigo J-05. Welcome."

Indigo J-05 opened her eyes and froze as she saw the area surrounding her. The room was comfortably set up for human habitation. A sofa, a chair and a terminal were the only furniture. But it was the form that stood in the middle of it that caught and held Indigo J-05's eyes. She couldn't tell if it was male or female. The robes it wore were all encompassing. The attire was pure white and the face was covered by some kind of shimmering veil.

"Indigo J-05, this is one of Amelia's Voices." Karen nodded to the robed being who nodded back. "They give up their names and pasts in order to serve humanity as a whole. They are anonymous and neutral in all disputes."

"Not just humanity, Tenno Karen." The white garbed being said calmly. "We serve any who allow us to." Indigo J-05 looked at Karen who made a small face but nodded.

"I don't understand." Indigo J-95 said as Elenia gave her hand a squeeze, released it and moved to stand by the door.

"You have been through a horrible experience, child." The Voice said softly. "What was done to you cannot be undone, and while many fear you, slaying you out of hand would be a waste." Indigo J-05 looked at the floor and the Voice continued. "You are a teacher. A very good one according to your files."

"I..." Indigo J-05 swallowed and nodded. "I guess. I had a low failure rate for those I instructed. But doesn't hat only prove they can pass tests?" She was not expecting the Voice to chuckle. "What?"

"Teaching is _hard_ work, Indigo J-05." The Voice sounded greatly amused. "There are never enough who make it their calling. Your circumstances will force you to remain here for the remainder of your life, but that will not limit you if you so choose." Indigo J-05 had been tensing, but then she stared at the robed form, stunned.

"I do not understand." Indigo J-05 said slowly. Then she smiled a little. "Can you teach me?"

"You have other work that the Tenno will ask to to assist with, but I or one of my colleagues would be happy to assist you in learning whatever we can." The voice replied. "You may never be able to leave this Citadel physically, but there are few limits to what the unfettered mind can do. We will aid you, but first, there are others who wish to meet you."

"Others?" Indigo J-05 asked, looking around.

"Not here." The Voice replied. 'Come, sit." The Voice sat on the sofa and indicated the chair. "The chair has been set for you. It will allow you to do what few humans are capable of consciously. Eventually, you may learn to do it yourself, but for now? We can aid you and we will."

The human turned to look at Karen who nodded. She looked at Elenia who also nodded. Then she set her face and moved to the chair. In form it was a recliner, soft to the touch, but oddly slick as well. There was something attached to the headrest that Indigo J-05 could not identify.

"That is a neural induction device." The Voice said when Indigo J-05 looked at the seated form. "There really is no way to describe what it does. You have to experience it."

"I..." Indigo J-05 gave herself a stern shake and then sat. She tensed, but nothing happened.

"Put your head against the headrest." The Voice prompted.

Indigo J-05 did and then she gasped as the world fell away.

She came to her senses standing in front of a large group of… small humans? She fought to keep from swallowing hard as the Voice appeared beside her. Another form appeared beside her, a Tenno. Not one that Indigo J-05 knew by sight. She was smiling.

"Hello Indigo J-05." The voice was Jasmina! The Tenno Caretaker that had so frightened Indigo J-05 before. "The kids know that you are afraid They won't do anything. Well..." She shrugged a little. "You know kids."

"I know to search any chair I sit down in." Indigo J-05 said severely. None of the kids moved. She started as she realized they were all transparent!

"This is virtual." The Voice said before Indigo J-05 could utter anything. "They are all volunteers for a new school system that various groups have helped set up. We have counselors, clerics, security and many others. But we are desperately short of teaching staff who are experienced at such. You have experience in doing this kind of thing and they want to learn."

"Do I start now?" Indigo J-05 said weakly.

"We are not that evil." The Voice said with a laugh and Indigo J-05 relaxed. "They wanted to meet you. They know you were hurt and wanted to meet you."

"I...see." Indigo J-05 replied. She jerked as she saw two Voices sitting in the back of the class. She turned to the Voice beside her who shrugged.

"Lots of people want to learn." The Voice answered the question before Indigo J-05 could speak it. "Are you willing?"

"On one condition." Indigo J-05 stared out across the sea of expectant faces. She had feeling that the two Voices in the back had similar expressions even if she couldn't see them.

"Which is?" The voice prompted her.

"My name is Henrietta."

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

"She _remembers_." The voice of the speaker was weak, scared even.

"No. She does not." The voice of the Lotus was resigned as the group watched the newly renamed Henrietta take roll for her class. "All of the probabilities say that she simply wanted a fresh start and doesn't know that that was her original name. I do not like this."

"It is not _our_ choice." Karl said firmly. "It is _hers_."

He glared around the room and no one would meet his gaze. The Lotus stood a little apart as always. Tiana of his former clan, Elders Hans and Mavri alone with probationary Elder Raven, Nikis and Sun along with two hooded forms that he knew were Michelle and her guard Petra stood by one wall of the virtual world in which they were observing Henrietta's new life start. The other stood behind Karl, not -quite- cowering from the others.

"Are you sure about this, Karl?" Mavri asked for all of them. "She is a threat."

"Her ability is nullified as long as she remains in the Citadel." Karl said with a nod. She will never leave its walls except virtually and she cannot use the ability in such environments anymore." He turned to the other. "Can she?"

"No." The other replied. "She needs the boost I give her to do such. I was afraid."

"You do not need to be afraid anymore, Helminth." Karl said firmly. "I accept the role of your defender. No one will harm you ever again."

"I want no strife between your people." The form resolved into a misshapen humanoid form. It was not human though. The pulsating masses on what passed for its arms and legs proclaimed what it was.

"There will not be any." Karl declared as he moved to one wall. "The First have said they can use your help with many things, so you won't ever have to leave the Citadel either. For now though? I am ready."

"Karl, please..." Tiana pleaded weakly.

"I am not who I was." Karl said flatly. "I cannot ever be who I was. You see the warframe and you need me to be who I was. I cannot, Tenno Tiana. I am not him."

"I..." Tiana bowed her head. "Perhaps. But still… Sister to Brother, yours in life and death." She said quietly. "If ever you have need, call us and we shall come." She folded her arms, bowed her head and vanished.

The three Elder looked from Karl to Nikis to Sun and then at each other. Without a word, they each nodded to Karl and vanished as well. Only then did Michelle throw back her hood she was crying softly.

"Karl… I..." Michelle started to say something and then choked off as he shook his head.

"I do what I must." Karl said firmly. "These two need protection. I am giving it. I take responsibility for their protection and responsibility for their actions. Tell your mother, the situation is handled and if she tries to 'handle' it any other way, we will come into conflict."

"I will tell her." Michelle said sadly. "For what it is worth, Karl… she didn't want to have Ind-" She paused and corrected herself grimly. "... _Henrietta_ , slain. It was needed. Never wanted."

Karl did not respond and Michelle sighed heavily before nodding to her guard and leaving the virtual world.

"Lots of people gonna have problems with this." Nikis said offhand. Karl ignored him. "Ya grown up, numbnuts. Gotta say, you do an old angry fart proud."

Everyone stared at the ancient Nekros who simply vanished without another word. Sun nodded and vanished as well.

"Are you _sure_ about this?" The Lotus begged. "There is no need!"

"When they see the white Rhino..." Karl keyed to exit the virtual world as he was speaking, He knew both of the others would still hear him. "They expect the old me. I am not him. I need to make my own way now. I am Helminth's Guardian at all times. Now to do my _other_ job."

The room was horrific. The Orokin décor was almost submerged in a tidal wave of Infested flesh but it wasn't threatening. Oh no. Not now. He strode to the chair and sat, his Nidus warframe settling into the seat of the Infested machine as if the pair had been made for each other. They had been.

"Let's spread the cure."


End file.
